The government in Jharkhand in eastern India has announced a plan to rename a state health service after St Teresa of Kolkata, removing its current name, which is linked to a prominent leader of India’s Hindu party. Source: UCA News.
“It is a fitting gesture to honour St Mother Teresa’s profound compassion for the sick and suffering, regardless of creed, caste, or colour in India,” former Archbishop Felix Toppo SJ of Ranchi, based in the state capital, said yesterday.
The Atal Mohalla (community) Clinics in the state will be renamed Mother Teresa Advanced Health Clinics in honour of St Teresa, who cared for the sick, Jharkhand’s chief minister Hemant Soren announced on July 24.
The name Atal refers to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was the leader of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party and became the party’s first prime minister in May 1996. He died in August 2018.
Mr Soren heads the state government, which is led by his regional Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM or Jharkhand Freedom Front). The BJP, which previously ruled the state, is now in opposition.
Mr Soren, who follows the nature-worshipping tribal religion of Sarna, told the media that the state cabinet meeting decided the change, along with some 20 key proposals approved by the government.
The BJP opposed the renaming move, calling it a tactic to convert more Hindus to the Catholic Church.
The BJP “is only spreading the false narrative of religious conversion ever since it formed the federal government in 2014 and gained power in some states”, Archbishop Toppo said.
Archbishop Toppo said St Teresa was an international figure, revered even among millions of Hindus in India.
Ajit Paul, a Catholic social activist, said Mother Teresa visited Jharkhand many times, “providing help to the poorest of the poor and abandoned. Nuns of her congregation run at least five centres for the poor and the marginalised in Ranchi city.”
FULL STORY
Indian state to rename health services after St. Mother Teresa (By Michael Gonsalves, UCA News)
