Christian institutions should reach out to alumni to be their voice, says Derek O'Brien

Bengaluru: Around three-fourths of those who study in Christian-run institutions are non-Christians, and the institutions should reach out to their alumni to be their voice, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said on Sunday.

Participating in a discussion in Bengaluru, the second in the series of 'Speak Up' dialogues along with Jesuit priest Father Cedric Prakash, O'Brien said the community should be in focus for their positive contributions, highlighting the role of Christian-run educational institutions in nation-building.

Archbishop of Bengaluru Peter Machado was also present at the event.

The TMC Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Party Leader pointed out that several top BJP leaders are alumni of Christian-run institutions, including BJP president J P Nadda, Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman, among others.

O'Brien said there are around 5,400 Christian-run institutions in India, which have at least 22 to 25 crore alumni, and they would be the best spokespersons for the Christian community.

He said they should reach out to them, including union ministers who have studied in Christian institutions.

Stating that the Christian community should be in the news for positive reasons, he said, "There are around 54,000 Christian educational institutions run by the minority community. At any given time, there are around six crore students studying in these institutions..

"Around 70 percent of the students are non-Christians. If you do the calculation, it comes to 4.5 crore... think about the alumni associations of all these schools....

"Reorient those alumni associations. They should become spokespersons for these institutions," he said.

Answering questions from the audience, O'Brien touched upon the issue of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and the Uniform Civil Code as well, and said Christians should stand up and oppose both..

He accused the BJP of pitting minority communities against each other and stressed that these are constitutional issues, rather than being religious issues.

O'Brien also said that the Church leadership should question the government over issues like announcing 'Good Governance Day' on Christmas, Christian NGOs being affected due to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act registrations being cancelled, the situation in Manipur, and the anti-conversion bills..

He also mentioned Father Stan Swamy, the 84-year-old tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest, who died in custody in July 2021 from cardiac arrest after contracting Covid-19.

The first 'Speak Up' interaction was held in Ahmedabad on January 9.