Derek O’Brien questions Modi’s Christmas message amid attack allegations

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O’Brien on Thursday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his Christmas message, amid reports of attacks on Christians in several parts of the country ahead of the festival.

In a brief post on X, O’Brien quoted the Prime Minister’s Christmas message and questioned its spirit, writing: “Love? Peace? Compassion? Harmony? Goodwill? Christmas?”

Modi, in his post, said the Christmas prayer service he attended “reflected the timeless message of love, peace and compassion” and expressed hope that the spirit of Christmas would inspire harmony and goodwill in society.

The Prime Minister attended a Christmas morning service at the Cathedral Church of the Redemption in New Delhi on Thursday, along with a large congregation of Christians from Delhi and North India.

O’Brien, the TMC’s leader in the Rajya Sabha, has been vocal in criticising the government over incidents of alleged attacks on Christians in the run-up to Christmas. On Wednesday, he targeted Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over what he described as their silence on such incidents.

In a post on X, O’Brien shared a video that purportedly shows a local BJP functionary involved in a physical altercation with a woman inside church premises in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. “PM Modi and HM Shah, your silence on incidents like these in the Christmas season is deafening. Shame on you and your ilk,” he wrote.

The video circulating on social media shows BJP Jabalpur vice-president Anju Bhargava shouting at a woman with visual impairment inside a church, in the presence of police personnel.

The issue has also drawn a response from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI). On Christmas Eve, CBCI president Archbishop Andrews Thazhath appealed to the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and chief ministers of various states to ensure strict enforcement of the law and provide proactive protection to Christian communities across the country.

After the CBCI released the Archbishop’s video message on Thursday night, O’Brien welcomed the intervention, saying the church leadership had issued “strong words condemning what’s happening in this joyous season”.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the CBCI condemned what it described as an “alarming” rise in alleged attacks on Christians. In a statement, the bishops’ body said it was “particularly shocked” by the Jabalpur incident, where a visually impaired woman attending a Christmas programme was allegedly publicly abused and physically harassed by a BJP city vice-president.

The CBCI urged the Union Home Minister to ensure strict enforcement of the law and proactive protection for Christian communities so that Christmas could be celebrated peacefully.