Goa Congress condemns Bhagwat's Mother Teresa comment

The Congress in Goa Tuesday condemned the statement by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in which he accused Nobel laureate Mother Teresa of carrying out conversions in the name of social service in India.

In a release here, the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee said Bhagwat's statement only confirmed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was the B-team of the Sangh Parivar and was systematically polarising India on religious lines.

"Mother Teresa dedicated her life for the destitute across religious lines. She served the poor throughout her life. Bhagwat with his statement is tarnishing the image of our country internationally," Congress state secretary Durgadas Kamat said.

Bhagwat, while speaking at a function in Bharatpur in Rajasthan, was quoted in the media as saying: "Mother Teresa's service would have been good. But it used to have one objective, to convert the person, who was being served, into a Christian."

His remarks have triggered adverse reactions across the country, including Goa, which has a 26 percent Christian population.

"On the one hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making a pitch for religious freedom while, on the other, the Sangh Parivar is systematically implementing hidden agendas to polarise India on religious lines," he said.