Scores of posters of the The Passion of the Christ have appeared in several Christian-dominated areas in the Mumbai suburb of Varsai in the run-up to the Maharashtra polls on October 13.
The prime suspect is the Shiv Sena that, along with the BJP, is locked in a do-or-die battle with the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine, and is eyeing minority votes.
The logic, according to sources, appears to be to paint the Sena “innocent” like Jesus pitched against a “scheming” alliance led by Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar who are like the “Romans”.
But senior Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam appeared unaware of the posters. Speaking over phone from Mumbai, he said: I am not sure about the posters. We never ask for votes in the name of Christianity.”
The Church in Mumbai, however, is livid and has demanded immediate removal of the posters in the suburb some 45 km from the financial capital.
Reprints of scenes from Mel Gibson’s film that was a hit in the US, Europe and many Asian countries, the posters show the blood-soaked, bruised face of Jesus on the cross and other torture scenes.
Mumbai Auxiliary Bishop Rev. Percival Fernandez, the secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, strongly objected to the use of Christ for electoral gains.
In a statement issued here today, he said the “use of picture of The Passion of the Christ to woo voters is against the very ethos of Christianity and the Bishops’ Conference takes a serious objection to it”.
Without naming the Sena, the statement added: “We are dismayed at the fact that a certain political party is using the poster of The Passion of the Christ for campaigning in the coming Assembly elections in Maharashtra.
“We totally disapprove of such an act and ask the people concerned to stop forthwith the use of pictures of Christ and other religious symbols in advertisements and posters relating to elections.”
Fernandez said poverty, illiteracy, social development and uplift of poor tribals and the downtrodden should be the areas of concern for any political party and not use of religious symbols for garnering votes.
The principles of democracy, he said, demand that we respect the religious sentiments of each individual while campaigning.