File photo of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
The Shiv Sena has commissioned more embarrassment for its ally, the ruling BJP, by endorsing widely condemned remarks against Mother Teresa made by Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
"Mohan Bhagwat has only spoken the bitter truth. Mother Teresa's real motive was to convert people to Christianity...Conversions are a business for missionaries," the Sena has said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamna, which "congratulates" the RSS chief.
"If Muslims converted by the sword, missionaries used money and in the name of service," it said.
The RSS is the ideological fountainhead of a family that includes the BJP and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Its chief was strongly criticized for his remarks at an event organized by an NGO in Rajasthan on Sunday.
"Here, the service isn't like Mother Teresa's. Her service would have been good but it used to have one objective, to see that the person who was being helped felt obliged to become a Christian. The question is not about conversion but if this (conversion) is done in the name of service, then that service gets devalued. In our country, service is neutral," Mohan Bhagwat said.
The government on Tuesday faced opposition anger in Parliament, but said it had "nothing to do with such statements."
Its ally Sena, however, said Mr Bhagwat had "done national service" by speaking the truth about missionaries.
"We have respect for the work mother Teresa did. Several social figures have done such service. However, they did not carry out religious conversions," the party said.
The Sena also said the RSS chief's statement would "help the Gharwapasi movement."
Pro-Hindu groups like the VHP, and some BJP MPs, describe conversions as "gharwapasi or homecoming" of Hindus who converted to other religions generations ago.