Panaji: Both the Constitution of India and the Bible are “life supports” and “fundamental” for being a Christian citizen of India and a disciple of Christ in India, said the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.
The editorial of the latest edition of its pastoral bulletin, Renovacao, titled ‘Being an Indian Christian’, states that ignorance of the Constitution has far-reaching consequences. With the Constitution and Bible on its front cover, it highlights the need for every citizen of India to know the Constitution, especially its preamble, in the backdrop of India celebrating its 75th anniversary of being a republic.
“Basic knowledge, understanding, and practice of the Constitution is the right, duty, and obligation of every Indian citizen,” the editor of the bulletin, Fr Aleixo Menezes, said.
“Ignorance of the Constitution is ignorance of being a citizen,” he wrote, adding, “(This) ignorance has far-reaching consequences: either we become slaves of others (politicians, advocates, lawyers) and accept blindly their interpretations, and/or we allow legislators to amend the Constitution with selfish/egoistic motives, whereby the good of India and Indians as a whole is put at risk”.
Although the Constitution and the Bible belong to two different areas, nevertheless, for an Indian Christian, both are essential, he stated. Sometimes there are debates on which comes first, the Constitution (citizenship) or the Bible (Christianity). The editorial suggests a practical proposal. “Everyone is born as a human being/person; immediately after birth, the child is registered with the civil authority (panchayat, municipality, etc). Only after being a citizen of India, the person is registered/admitted into a religion,” he said.
“This distinction may be beneficial, but we cannot make watertight compartments: a human being/person is at the same time an Indian and a Christian. Hence, for an Indian Christian, the Constitution and the Bible are fundamental,” the editorial states.