Mandsaur BJP MP questions Mother Teresa's sainthood

MANDSAUR: Mandsaur BJP MP Sudhir Gupta on Tuesday questioned the sainthood accorded to Mother Teresa, alleging that she indulged in religious conversion in exchange for the services she offered to the poor.

"Mother gave her services, and in exchange took away their religion," Gupta told reporters here in reply to a query on Mother Teresa's canonization. Gupta, who was a staunch RSS worker, told mediapersons: "And how can a child become Roman Catholic (on his own)? You have come to serve people. She could have asked the young girl after she turned 18 about her choice of religion. She did not even let children be 'Protestant Christians'... Every child became a Roman Catholic."

On Mother Teresa's canonization, the BJP MP said he had never commented on whether the "title was right or wrong". "The service that Mother Teresa did for the nation is big and it cannot be challenged or opposed in any manner. But when we glorify someone...," he said. After a pause, he named Baba Amte and Kailash Satyarthi and remarked that they too had done "great service to the people, but did not ask for anything in return".

"Here, you have converted their religion without asking them," Gupta asked. "If the world gives permission for this, it is very cruel. There should be a discussion on this. This should be pondered upon. Can such people - who indulge in forced religious conversion - be saints?" wondered Gupta, who was meeting reporters on his visit to his hometown.