Good Governance Day or Ideological Assertion?

“Politics and religion don't just maintain the gap between us; they fuel a mindset where survival overrides everything else, turning neighbours into desperate rivals”

The above statement identifies an adverse effect of mixing religion and politics in social conflicts: When a conflict is framed through religion or politics the stakes would be elevated to an existential level. Compromise is then viewed as a threat to one's very exitence leading to a desperate "survival at any cost" mentality that can justify violence or extreme measures.

In 17th century, an Ordinance of Puritan-dominated Parliament led by Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, enforced a ban on Christmas celebrations, driven by Puritan religious beliefs, which viewed the traditional Christmas celebrations with suspicion, across England, Scotland, and Ireland from the 1640s until 1660.

The ban emanated from the Puritan belief of religious austerity that the date of December 25th had no biblical basis as Christ's birth and as such the festivities were twelve-day period of heavy drinking, feasting, dancing, and social inversion, which was considered wasteful, immoral, and a "great dishonour of God".

Thus, the Puritans sought to reform the Church of England and remove what they saw as lingering Catholic influences and "popish" rituals.

The ordinance, a Parliamentary initiative, deployed an enforcement tactic of declaring Christmas Day a day of fasting and humiliation, treating it a normal working day, while banning special church services, carol singing, etc.

In contemporary, religiously divisive Indian politics, Christian organizations and civil rights groups perceive a similar effort to deny Christians their Christmas celebrations.

This perception arises after the BJP-led Union Government declared December 25th as a day to commemorate the birth centenary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

This order facilitated BJP-led state governments (like UP) and some central government institutions (like Kerala Lokh Bhavan) in using the directive as an enforcement tactic, forcing the government institutions and schools to observe a working day to conduct mandatory programs to that effect.

The Christian organizations view this Governmental insistence on compulsory attendance and mandatory conduct of programmes to commemorate birth centenary of the former PM as a signal of a calculated assertion of majoritarian precedence, a manifestation of the steady erosion of religious accommodation in public life under an increasingly assertive Hindutva political culture.

This perceived enforcement tactic, disrupting Christmas celebrations by mandating commemorative programs under the guise of “Good Governance Day”, draws direct parallels to 17th-century Puritan directives that rebranded the holiday as a day of fasting and humiliation.

These latest measures coincide with recent incidents where Sangh Parivar affiliates have actively opposed public Christmas displays and traditional carol-singing programs, and paradoxically they were issued even as the Prime Minister was attending a programme at a cathedral in New Delhi and the Vice-President was the guest of honour at the annual Christmas dinner by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, assuring the gathering that religious minorities were safe in India.

In Kerala, where Christians represent a significant 18.4% of the population, recent attempts by Sangh Parivar affiliates to pressure schools and families against participating in Christmas activities reflect a calculated ideological push for majoritarian precedence.

Critics argue these actions reveal a pattern of using enforcement tactics to advance Hindutva political objectives, rather than simply observing the officially framed "Good Governance Day".

Thus, the "Good Governance Day" programs on December 25 were being perceived as a denial of religious holidays and a challenge to secular principles.

Mandating official programs under the guise of “Good Governance Day” on December 25 not only interferes with Christmas celebrations but also creates a climate of legal and social vulnerability. By treating a major religious holiday as a working day for commemorative activities, routine faith-based practices can be strategically reframed as ideologically disruptive or even "anti-Hindu.

When the denial of religious holidays, assaults on clergy, and the vandalization of churches become routine headlines rather than triggers for a constitutional emergency, it signals a significant democratic backsliding.

While the denial of a single holiday might seem insignificant, it smokescreens a deeper malady: the subtle normalization of exclusion within an era of political majoritarianism and heightened discourse of religious polarization.

Ultimately, India’s democratic promise will not be judged by ceremonial affirmations of unity by its leadership at programmes in cathedrals, but by its resolve in protecting its most vulnerable citizens from the machinery of marginalization.

These mandatory methods of imposing a specific ideology in the guise of “Good Governance Day” would have deeply grieved both Jesus Christ and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose legacies are built on tolerance and moral leadership rather than coercion.

It is paradoxical to call it good governance while simultaneously using coercive tactics that sideline the traditions of the Christian community.