‘Should become spokespersons’: TMC’s Derek O'Brien urges Christian institutions to engage alumni as their voice

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien has called on Christian-run educational institutions in India to reconnect with their alumni, stating that they could be the strongest advocates for the community.
Speaking at the ‘Speak Up’ dialogue in Bengaluru on Sunday, he highlighted the significant role these institutions have played in nation-building.
The Bengaluru event was the second in the ‘Speak Up’ dialogue series, with the first one held in Ahmedabad on January 9.
As per PTI, O'Brien said that about 70% of students in Christian-run schools and colleges are non-Christians, amounting to nearly 4.5 crore students at any given time.
He urged Christian institutions to “reorient” their alumni associations to serve as spokespersons for their contributions to society, ensuring that the community is in the news for positive reasons.
"Around 70 percent of the students are non-Christians. If you do the calculation, it comes to 4.5 crore. Think about the alumni associations of all these schools. Reorient those alumni associations. They should become spokespersons for these institutions," he said.
The TMC leader also questioned the government over issues such as declaring December 25 as ‘Good Governance Day’, the cancellation of foreign contribution (regulation) act (FCRA) registrations for Christian NGOs, the ongoing violence in Manipur and anti-conversion laws.
He pointed out that there are around 54,000 such institutions in India with an alumni base of 22 to 25 crore, which includes several top leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), such as party president JP Nadda and Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman.
During the discussion, which also featured Jesuit priest Father Cedric Prakash and Archbishop of Bengaluru Peter Machado, O'Brien raised concerns over various government policies affecting the Christian community.
He criticised the BJP for allegedly using divisive tactics to pit minority communities against each other and said that Christians should actively oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and the uniform civil code.
He further recalled the case of Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, who died in custody in July 2021 after contracting Covid-19.