Daleep Mukarji
'I think this myth that because we’re all Christian we should all be sweet and nice and good is nonsense'

• Click here for the first part of this interview

Do the many views and opinions within Christianity cause problems for an organisation with Christian as a part of its title?

'We must be careful not to condemn Christianity because it has divisions. Our Lord chose twelve people, and one denies Him, one betrays Him, they don’t understand what he’s doing and very soon the early Church there are problems, if you read the Acts of the Apostles.

'I think this myth that because we’re all Christian we should all be sweet and nice and good is nonsense. That doesn’t in any way mean we should try to be different. We’re human beings also and we’re human organisations. I see it in the early Church and in the story of Jesus Himself so I’m not disillusioned with ideological feelings that all Christians should work together and support each another.

Owned

'What is important within Christian Aid is that we’re owned by the churches, which gives us a certain sense of official role in the life and mission and ministry of the church, but then because we’re official and supported by the church, we have to take our Christianity seriously.

'But because the churches themselves are so different, because of all the different denominations and within those denominations, I think that’s not a problem, that’s part of the nature of the church. We’ve got to accept that within the Christian Aid community there are black majority churches, evangelical and Pentecostal churches, charismatic churches, churches with a more liberal view, and some with conservative views.

'What keeps us together is that we’re a churches agency, the church must speak out against poverty and injustice, and we’re trying to encourage Christians to put their faith into action. We’re not trying to tell Christians what kind of worship, dogma or theology to have. That’s not the primary purpose of Christian Aid.

'That’s what they do in the church. If you believe as Christians as I believe that we must love our neighbours, do good to others, help to build a better world, then that’s what Christian Aid is about.

Agreement

'If we can find what we agree on, and focus on that, and that’s the important thing. It was Lyndon Johnson who said ‘If five people agree on something, you can be pretty sure that one person is making the statement and the others are following him.’ I think it’s great that we are big enough to understand that we can have some differences, as long as we have a common sense of purpose, belonging and direction. That’s what the strategic framework is about. At the end of a consultation, we have one document that is the framework, the guidelines for Christian Aid in the next five years. At the end of the day we must all have to follow that.

'That’s what the strategic framework is about. At the end of a consultation, we have one document that is the framework, the guidelines of Christian Aid in the next five years. At the end of the day we must all have to follow that. If you don’t like it then you’ll have to leave, because that’s the nature of the organisation, it has made a decision after a consultation.'

Why is it important to be involved in the political process?

'Being involved with politics with a small ‘p’ and being involved with politics with a capital ‘P’ are different things. If this agency and the churches are true to their tradition, then we speak out with what we see. When people are misbehaving, taking advantage of others, when we see poverty and injustice, discrimination and marginalisation, when we see people misusing power, then I believe the church needs to speak out and stand up and take sides.

'That’s the history of the Christian church and the Jewish faith too, because it talks about taking the sides of widows and orphans and people who are strangers, it talks about loving your neighbour and your enemy, helping other people.

'If that is what our faith is about then I believe Christian Aid must ask why there is poverty today, and look at the root causes. In a world of plenty, that’s when we have to ask questions of the institutional systems, of the way the World Bank behaves, the way the United Nations behaves, the IMF, and our government.

Influence

'This is why we’re part of Make Poverty History Coalition. It’s because we want to influence the policies of the G8 nations meeting and the EU Presidency, because we want our government, whichever one wins, and Britain which is going to be in this leadership role in the G8 meeting, to influence other countries to say we can and must do something about poverty eradication, we can make history by making poverty history, so that the trade debate at the World Trade Organisation where the EU takes the lead, fortunately we have a guy called [Peter] Mandelson over there who is known to many in the present government, we should be able to influence him so that we have a policy out there that is in the interests of poor countries and poor people.

'That element of political involvement is something I’m comfortable with. Martin Luther King did it with the civil rights movement, William Wilberforce did it with the anti-slave movement, a host of Christian leaders have been involved with the labour movement, in the women’s movement, in the environment movement, in the anti-arms trade, that is part of our heritage and tradition of being Christian, and I will never not use it.

Are you saddened that Christian Aid is having a 60 th anniversary?

'I’d be saddened if Christian Aid’s 60 th anniversary makes it look and behave its age! It must reinvent itself and re-define its calling and its purpose in the 21 st Century. I’m concerned that while we celebrate 60 years of wonderful service, as long as there’s poverty and injustice we have a purpose and a need. For me the question is when can we have no Christian Aid and no poverty?

'The Churches can be proud of what they started because of the post war exuberance that we could do something about the world, when countries were coming out of colonialism and becoming independent, we recognised that we could give them a hand to help themselves, I think it would be wonderful to see a world where all the nations could live in peace and harmony and justice and inclusion, where we can share the resources more equitably.

'Every human being is a child of God made in God’s image and we should not deny children and human beings their basic rights that you and I take for granted. I’ve lived in a country in villages where people didn’t know where that day’s meal was coming from, that’s what made me give up medicine, to worry about these issues, and I’ve no regrets about that. I have a very strong feeling that we’ll never win the war on terrorism unless we win the war on poverty.'

What is your anniversary message for Christian Aid’s supporters?

'First of all, to all our supporters and many other people, thanks for your prayers and thanks for your support, we couldn’t do it without you. Remember that together we can make a difference and most importantly, it’s not what we’re doing for each other, but what we can do together for those people who we don’t see, don’t know, who are still in this world both our neighbours and part of our wider family. I want people to feel called about what the faith says and called by their desire to make a better world.'