Power without accountability

Something strange happened when a bishop from Kerala posted in Jalandhar was accused of rape by a Catholic nun. There were discussions in the media whether the pope would support him. The pope who is the head of the Vatican has no jurisdiction in India, yet he allowed the bishop in question to step down ‘temporarily’ pending an inquiry by the Church.

Would the authorities be so indulgent towards an ordinary citizen, say a temple priest accused of such a heinous crime? Note also that the bishop in question, like all bishops, is appointed by the Vatican which is not supposed to have any jurisdiction in India but seems able to exercise considerable influence in India through Sonia Gandhi. (Let us not forget how the Kanchi Acharya was arrested on a trumped up charge when he visited a Congress-ruled state on Deepavali day.)

Here is another instance. Recently, the government tried to gain control of some land in the Western Ghats to protect the environment, as recommended by the Gadgil Commission, appointed by the Government. But some of this land was claimed to belong to some churches in Kerala. So some church leaders went and met Sonia Gandhi who was able to get the order countermanded. As the Wikipedia reports it,

People in Kerala, especially Christian organizations, strongly protested the implementation of the report since most of the farmers in the hilly regions are Christians, especially in Wayanad. During the 20th century, a very large number of Christians had migrated from southern Kerala and acquired forest land in Wayanad and other areas with abundant forest and waste land. The Gadgil Committee report was criticised for being excessively environment-friendly. [Sic: meaning not in favour of the Church.] 

This was nothing but land grabbing by Christian outfits. It is no secret that Christian outfits own prime properties in most Indian cities. This was a benefit from colonial rule, but has continued under decades of Congress rule even after independence. This land grabbing by the Church is nothing new. Several Latin American countries and The Philippines, all formerly ruled by Catholic Spain, are practically owned by the Church. Mexico took severe action against the Church and remains largely anti-clerical in policy and practice.

Even England could not fully escape. When King Henry VIII broke with Rome, the Church still owned considerable assets in England. It was Henry’s son, young king Edward VI, who broke the power of Rome by enforcing Protestantism as state religion and appointing himself as Governor of the Church of England. This was continued under the short reign of Lady Jane Grey, who was deposed in favour of the staunchly Catholic Mary Tudor who was married to the Catholic King Philip of Spain.

There were widespread riots in country when it was feared that Queen Mary might bring back Catholic rule under her husband Philip. She put it down with much bloodshed, gaining infamy as Bloody Mary. She didn’t live long and was soon succeeded by Elizabeth I. So England escaped coming under Rome. So it was the young but ruthless Edward VI who was responsible for breaking the power of Rome in England.

Deep State in India

It is an inescapable fact that most of government work is done by unelected officials of the civil service, courts and law enforcement. While we hear much of Muslim appeasement, the public is generally unaware of the large Christian presence in the unelected part of the government. For example, in the Life Insurance Corporation, Christians are appointed to the highest positions, whenever possible. The same holds for judges and law enforcement.

When the UPA came to power, it replaced nearly all 300 principals of Kendriya Vidyalayas to make room for their favourites. Some distinguished scholars who happened to be principals were denied even a single year of extension by the education secretary who happened to be a Kerala Christian.

To understand what the Deep State is like, one needs only to look at Italy. There is a government to be sure, but power really is in the hands of the Mafia, led by adventurers like Licio Gelli and his group Propaganda Due or P2 for short. They control financial institutions like the notorious Banco Ambrosiano, partly owned by the Vatican Bank.

Areas with large Italian immigrants in the US, like New York, Chicago and New Jersey, are areas where the Mafia is most influential. Catholic leaders like Mayor Daly (Chicago), La Guardia (New York) were said to be close to the Mafia, even though later La Guardia went after some gangsters with a vengeance, though it was motivated by politics.

We may see Sonia Gandhi’s unelected National Advisory Council under the UPA government as example of a Deep State organization. During the Emergency, Sanjay Gandhi ruled over the country with a coterie of cronies and gangsters. The New York Times in a special issue called it rule by a mafia.

This is what India has to guard against as the Congress continues into serious decline: a group of mafia outfits gaining control of the unelected offices to bring about mafia rule to save themselves and their interests.