BJP is not against minorities, says Advani

New Delhi, Nov 22 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader L.K. Advani Sunday said his party was not anti-minorities and that he deeply valued Christrians' contribution to freedom struggle and nation building.

"I revere Jesus Christ for his message of universal peace, love and brotherhood. I deeply value the contribution of our Christian brethren both to India's freedom struggle and to India's nation-building in the post-Independence era," Advani said.

He was speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations function of the Delhi Archdiocese.

Advani also said the Bharatiya Jana Sangh's founder leader Shyama Prasad Mookerjee appointed V.K. John, a Christian, as the chief of the Jana Sangh in Madras province in the course of building the party in various parts of the country in the early 1950s.

Referring to his school background, Advani said: "I often use Christian metaphors even in my political communication. When the Bharatiya Janata Party was born on April 6, 1980, it was Easter Sunday, the Day of Resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Advani, who studied in a Church-run school St. Patrick's High School in Karachi before partition, said: "All my teachers in the school, including Father Modestine, the principal, were Christians."

"I am forever grateful to my teachers," said the BJP leader.

"In matters of faith," he said, "India has never exhibited exclusivism and never closed its doors to men of piety and spiritual accomplishment."