Church uses price of natural rubber as bargaining chip with BJP

By Arun Lakshman
Thiruvananthapuram, April 30 The Catholic Church is now in a bargaining mode with the BJP in Kerala.

On March 19, the Archbishop of Thalassery diocese, Mar Joseph Pamplani, addressing a public rally of farmers, said that the Church is not averse to the BJP and if the BJP government at the Centre raises the price of rubber to Rs 300 per kg, the church will see to it that the party gets its first MP from Kerala.

This statement of the Archbishop was received with shock in the state with both the ruling CPI-M led Left Front and the opposition Congress led United Democratic Front coming down heavily on him.

However the Archbishop said that his point was to get the maximum benefit for the farmers who have been facing a financial crunch after the price of rubber came down. According to farmers in the area, after rubber prices fell, the standard of living of the farmers who are predominantly from the Christian community has come down.

The falling rubber prices have been a major point of concern in the hill areas of Kerala where the Church dominates the show and in places where settlers from other parts of the state are in good numbers.

The Church officials have been meeting Union ministers and even the Prime Minister for a hike in rubber prices, but according to Church office-bearers, it all fell on deaf ears.

The majority of rubber growers in Kerala are Christian and most of the farmers are concentrated in the hill ranges. The Thalassery Archbishop who is a powerful entity in the Kerala Catholic scheme of things cannot be ignored as he has clearly stated that if the Union government raises the rubber price to Rs 300 per kg, the BJP will have MPs from Kerala.

The districts of Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta are where most of the rubber farmers are concentrated and a majority are from the Christian community.

The BJP immediately swung into action and the rubber board chairman, Dr Sawar Dhanania from West Bengal, rushed to meet the Archbishop and held discussions with him. Even though the BJP did not commit to the statement of the Archbishop, it seems to have created a major hype among the political parties.

As usual, the Left Front came out strongly against the Archbishop and there were insinuations that Joseph Pamplani was never interested in the problems faced by Christ outside Kerala, allegedly at the hands of ‘Hindutva' forces to whom the BJP subscribes.

Pamplani, however stood by his statement and said that he was speaking on behalf of the rubber farmers who were on the verge of suicide with the prices falling anywhere between Rs 130-Rs 150 per kg. Rubber prices had touched Rs 248 per kilogram and fallen to an all time low of Rs 80 per kg.

Several senior leaders of the BJP visited Archbishop Joseph Pamplani including the party's former state president and present national executive member, P.K. Krishnadas. BJP Kannur district leaders led by district president N. Haridas and party state council member M.P. Sumesh also visited the Archbishop at Bishop House, Thalassery.

It remains to be seen how the rubber diplomacy will work for Kerala and whether the central government will raise the price of the commodity which the farmers in several constituencies of the state are eagerly waiting for.