A group of Christians in the southern Indian state of Karnataka felicitated U. T. Khader, the new speaker of the State Assembly.
He was unanimously nominated to be the 23rd Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on May 24.
Elections for the 224 members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly were held on May 10 in that state. On May 13, the election results were announced.
By winning 135 seats, the Indian National Congress easily defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (Secular), who came in second and third, respectively.
The BJP encourages Hindu nationalism and divides the electorate of the state along religious lines. Hindutva or the Hindu nationalist agenda, is prevalent throughout the state.
Many Christian groups have recently honored him. On June 4, the whole parish of Permannur, Mangaluru Diocese, under the leadership of Father Cyprian Pinto gave a rousing reception to Khader, a member of the Indian National Congress party.
About 700 parishioners participated in the program: the same day, Ranipur parishioners in Mangalore Diocese, Karnataka, too honored him with a cultural program.
At St. Antony Poor Home, Jeppu, Mangaluru, Father J.B. Crasta organized another felicitation program on June 12 for Khader.
In return, he promised all possible help to the Christian community.
Karnataka, home to 65 million people, has a population of about 13 percent Muslims and 2 percent Christians. Hindus make up 85.5 percent.
"Glad to know about the happiness of Christians over the win of the Congress Party in Karnataka and organizing felicitation programs to honor Karnataka Congress Speaker, Khader, a Muslim friend of all, including Christians," said Father Joseph Prasad Pinto of Mangalore, a Capuchin priest and scholar in many subjects with teaching experience.
"It's nice that Muslims and Christians come together to create ‘leaven in the mass’ for the transformation of our entire Indian society," he added.
Karnataka State in India has been governed by the Hindu rightist-wing BJP for the last eight years. This same party had passed an anti-conversion bill in 2021 and had objected to several Islamic public practices such as wearing a hijab, using loudspeakers for Namaz, and selling Halal meat.
The party had also changed the content of school textbooks, deleting some relevant historical aspects of British and Islamist Mughal rule in India and including themes of right-wing Hindu ideology.
In the past few years, the minority communities of Muslims and Christians have gone through several instances of harassment by the former government. As a result, people soundly rejected the ruling right-wing BJP in the state assembly elections this year.
As expected, the right-wing BJP government got routed in the elections, and the all-inclusive Congress Party was elected to govern for the next five years, winning 136 seats out of 224 in the State Assembly.
One Christian was elected as a legislator, now a minister, and nine Muslims have become legislators.
Among them, the well-educated Khader is elected unanimously as the Speaker of the House. Khader is respectful and friendly with all sections of society, especially the Christian community, said Pinto.
Outside of the legislature, Khader is renowned for his non-confrontational demeanor and ability to forge alliances across the community and political divides. Between February 2022 and March 2023, he was the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
With his new role as assembly speaker, he will now oversee proceedings and guarantee that members are having fair debates and deliberations. - Santosh Digal
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