Kerala Congress in hot water over Pope-Modi post; issues apology

Kerala Congress in hot water over Pope-Modi post; issues apology

A day after posting a post that made fun of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis' meeting in Italy, the Kerala Congress apologised on Monday on its X account.

"Finally, the Pope got a chance to meet God!" Kerela Congress wrote on X with a photo of PM Modi and the Pope in the since-deleted post. This was a reference to PM Modi's earlier statement that he believed he had been "sent by God" for a specific reason.

The tweet was swiftly denounced by the BJP, which claimed that the Congress had insulted both Pope and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kerala BJP president K Surendran wrote on X, "The @INCIndia Kerala 'X' handle, seemingly run by radical Islamists or Urban Naxals, continues to post derogatory and humiliating content against nationalistic leaders. Now, it has even stooped to mocking the respected Pope and the Christian community."

In-charge of the BJP IT Cell Amit Malviya sought an apology from Sonia Gandhi, the former president of the Congress, a Catholic, alleging that the Congress had a history of demeaning other faiths.

"After mocking the Hindus and deriding their faith, the Islamist-Marxist nexus in the Congress has now come down to insulting the Christians. This, when Sonia Gandhi, the longest serving Congress President, herself is a practising Catholic. She must apologise to the believers," Malviya wrote on X.

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Pope Francis' assertion that making jokes about God is not heresy was mentioned by Congress in retaliation. "When you manage to make intelligent smiles gush from the lips of even one spectator, you make even God smile. Pope Francis said this on Friday, 14th June on the same day after he met Narendra Modi," the party posted.

The Congress's Kerala unit removed the tweet and expressed an apology for causing "any emotional or psychological distress to Christians" in the face of growing criticism. It made clear in a statement that it has no intention of insulting any religion or religious leaders.

“No Congress worker would even entertain the remotest thought of insulting the Pope, whom Christians around the world see as God-like. However, the Congress has no qualms about mocking Narendra Modi, who insults the believers of this country by calling himself God,” the Kerala Congress' statement said.

“We also know that the Prime Minister has been keeping a studied silence on Manipur, where the minorities have been persecuted, and places of worship destroyed. Minorities faced persecution in Assam and Northeast and the PM has not uttered a word. We are calling out the hollowness of the PM towards the minority community and this camaraderie and this diplomacy [with the Pope] doesn't mean anything serious by the PM towards the Christian community,” Congress spokesperson Mathew Anthony said.

(With inputs from agencies)