Delhi rejects Albania’s claim on Mother

India rejected on Monday Albania’s claim to the remains of Nobel laureate and Missionaries of Charity founder Mother Teresa. Albanian prime minister Sali Berisha had said on Saturday that his government had sought the return of Mother’s remains before her 100th birth anniversary in August next year.

“Mother Teresa is an Indian citizen,” Vishnu Prakash, a spokesman for the external affairs ministry, said when DNA sought the government’s reaction to the request. Prakash’s reply, emphasising the fact that she was an Indian citizen, is clear indication that for New Delhi, the argument ends here.

Mother Teresa is buried in Mother House, Kolkata, from where she ran Missionaries of Charity, providing a helping hand to the poor, the destitute and those beyond hope. She arrived in Calcutta as a young nun in 1929 and dedicated her life to charity and spent the major part of her life in India till her death in 1997.

Albania, free of Communist rule in 1991, has been looking for national heroes. Mother Teresa, who was beatified by Pope John Paul-II in 2003 and who is expected to be designated a saint by the Roman Catholic hierarchy, would be a fit national icon. Albania has from time to time mentioned to Indian officials that Mother’s remains should be returned to the country of her birth. But Mother spent the major part of her life in India.

Macedonia and Albania have been fighting over Mother’s nationality. She was born to an Albanian couple, but her birthplace, Skopje, is now in Macedonia.