Kochi, February 23 Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Monday that the Syro-Malabar Church has sought micro-minority status for Christians during a meeting here between Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and the church leadership.
Rijiju met Syro-Malabar Major Archbishop Mar Raphael Thattil at the Church headquarters in Kakkanad.
Briefing reporters about the meeting, Chandrasekhar said two key issues were discussed between the union minister and the Church leaders.
"One of them was that the Christian community should be given micro-minority status. This is because resources and reservations meant for minorities are largely allocated to one minority community. So there was a discussion on considering micro-minority status," Chandrasekhar said.
He said Rijiju informed the Church leaders that the government would consider the request and that a delegation representing the community would visit Delhi in this regard.
Chandrasekhar said the second request placed by the Church leadership was to invite the Pope to India.
"The minister has said that the government will 100 per cent consider it. He has assured them," he said.
When asked about the demand for micro-minority status, Rijiju said it would be considered.
Rijiju told reporters that he had the opportunity to exchange ideas with the Syro-Malabar Church's Archbishop.
He said confidence among smaller minorities in Kerala could be strengthened.
"We are taking good care of them. We ensure that everybody is equal," he said.
Rijiju noted that there are six minority communities in India and said the Centre’s intention is to ensure constitutional protection for all of them.
"Protection will be given in the true spirit of the Constitution. If there are any deviations in any state, we will ensure corrective steps," he said.
Rijiju said he assured the Archbishop that the Narendra Modi government follows the principle of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas".
"We take everyone into confidence. We take care of all communities," he said.
The Syro-Malabar Church has yet to respond to the BJP leaders' claim, even though they shared pictures of the meeting on their official social media accounts.