After Waqf, RSS targets Church? Rahul Gandhi slams now-unpublished Organiser article

New Delhi: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Saturday warned that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) may soon target the Christian community, days after pushing for the controversial Waqf Bill aimed at Muslim institutions.

Gandhi's remarks came in response to an article published by Organiser, the RSS’s mouthpiece, titled “Who has more land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board debate”. The article, which is currently unavailable on the portal’s website, claimed that the Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental landowner in the country, with an estimated holding of 7 crore hectares.

“I had said that the Waqf Bill attacks Muslims now but sets a precedent to target other communities in the future. It didn’t take long for the RSS to turn its attention to Christians,” Gandhi said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “The Constitution is the only shield that protects our people from such attacks — and it is our collective duty to defend it.”

The Organiser article alleged that much of the Church’s land was acquired during British rule, facilitated by the Indian Church Act of 1927, which enabled large-scale land grants. It also raised questions over the legitimacy of these holdings, pointing to a 1965 Indian government circular that stated land leased by the British would no longer be recognised as Church property — a directive the article claimed has seen weak enforcement.

The article further alleged that Church-run schools and hospitals "lure" underprivileged individuals with free or affordable services, while allegedly pressuring them to convert to Christianity. It cited cases where land owned by tribal or rural communities was reportedly transferred to Church-affiliated organisations following religious conversion — a charge the Church has consistently denied.

“The Church’s institutions include 2,457 hospital dispensaries, 240 medical or nursing colleges, 28 general colleges, five engineering colleges, and more than 14,000 schools across India, making it a major player in the education and healthcare sectors. The total value of its properties is around ₹20,000 crore,” the article claimed.