(December 22, 2012) A Christian delegation in India’s Madhya Pradesh State on Wednesday
urged the federal government to press Russian authorities not to ban the Hindu scripture
Bhagvad Gita as a form of extremist literature. Representatives from the Madhya Pradesh
Isai Mahasangh (Grand Assembly of Christians) submitted a memorandum to the state
governor, Ram Naresh Yadav, seeking his assistance in getting Indian President Pratibha
Patil’s help in the matter. A court in Siberia’s Tomsk region is set to pass its verdict
on December 28 in a case filed in June by a group linked to the Orthodox Church seeking
to ban the Russian translation of the scripture because it is an “extremist” text
that spreads social discord. Father Anand Muttungal who led the delegation said the
proposed ban would be “painful” for all religious communities in India and that it
would adversely affect communal harmony in the country. Christians in India “shared
the sentiments of their Hindu brethren and would stand with them for protecting the
scripture,” said Fr Anand, who also serves as the spokesman for the Catholic Church
in Madhya Pradesh. The Bhagvad Gita is “a religious book of millions of Hindus living
in India and outside, and an attempt to brand it as extremist literature would send
the wrong signal,” he said. The governor has agreed to communicate the Christian sentiments
to the federal government, said Jerry Paul, another member in the delegation, who
added that the group has also enlisted the help of Pope Benedict XVI. Paul said the
group has sent the letter to the pope through the Nunciature in New Delhi.