Ever since prime minister Sali Berisha has approached Indian Government to transfer the remains of Mother Teresa back home, there has been an uneasiness between the two nations. Mother Teresa was born on Aug 26, 1910, in Skopje, now Macedonia. She was raised in an ethnic Albanian family. Macedonia wants to get the remains before Aug 26, 2010 to mark the anniversary. They claim that Mother Teresa will find more peace in the land where she was born. Additionally, she could rest next to her mother and sister who are buried in Tirana.
India has rejected Macedonia claim and suggests that her remains will continue to reside in Kolkata, India. The foreign ministry has insisted that Mother Teresa was an Indian citizen and she is resting in her own country. Therefore the question of transfering remains out of India is totally out of question. Mother Teresa was 19 years when she moved to India to teach girls in Darjeeling, India. She spent 17 years teaching and being principal of St. Mary's high school in Calcutta. In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa was granted Indian citizenship in 1951. She won Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Mother Teresa lived in Kolkata for 68 years, caring for the poor and the infirm.
Macedonia's premiere said that he will continue to raise this issue even though Indian authorities have opposed. Her ethnicity has tremendous importance in the Balkans. The Catholic Church of India, meanwhile, has welcomed the foreign ministry’s response that Mother Teresa was an Indian citizen. After her death in September, 1997, Mother Teresa's Order of the Volunteering Sisters continues to work in Skopje, Macedonia. Although there have been rumors that a part of Mother Teresa’s remains will be given to Macedonia for Mother Teresa’s commemorative House being built in Macedonia’s Capital. But these all seem baseless for now.
Prepared by Anita Bhel
In collaboration with Saching (http://www.saching.com)
