As Narendra Modi lights a candle in church on Easter, the real message is blowing in the wind

Apart from small talk on saving water, the prime minister had not a word to say on the open persecution of minorities in India.

Apr 12, 2023 - 07:30

As Narendra Modi lights a candle in church on Easter, the real message is blowing in the wind

It was not the normal Easter Resurrection Mass. It was a special function organised for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his office informed officials at the Sacred Heart Cathedral – a landmark in the centre of New Delhi not far from the seat of the national government – that he would want to pay the church a visit.

A programme was arranged by the cathedral clergy, well versed in the delicate protocol of official visits. They had played host to President Droupadi Murmu at Christmas with great success.

The prime ministerial convoy drove in and Modi was received by Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto of Delhi, his auxiliary Deepak Tauro, Archbishop Kuriakose Brahmikulangara of the Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Faridabad, and Bishop Thomas Anthonios of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Diocese of Gurgaon.

Modi lit a candle in front of a statue of resurrection and sat in a high chair facing the celebrated altar with its backdrop of the Last Supper while a choir of young girls sang three hymns. Modi listened, and then left the church accompanied by the bishops.

On the lawns, he planted a sapling and advised Archbishop Couto that much water would be saved if the Church adopted the drip irrigation system pioneered by Israel.

Modi was not...