Why this fuss about John Paul the second?

The media frenzy over the passing of John Paul the second has been phenomenal. I did not expect the Indian media to give the kind of coverage that the western media has been giving this issue. The most obvious reason for this could be that the national media is trying to please the Catholic population in this country. For the media here has always been trying to keep the minority communities in good spirits. There is nothing wrong with this parse. John Paul 2 did not get this much coverage in the Western and Indian media purely because he was the head of the Catholic Church. He was certainly one of the most influential humanitarians of our times. In his native country Poland he is considered the father of his nation for his role in morally opposing the communist regime of that country and contributing to its downfall. Despite of some of his archaic views on issues such as abortion and contraception (he was vehemently against these!)he had a huge following of supporters. He has a huge following of well-wishers even among non Catholics. But was a three day state mourning and so much media frenzy in India necessary or justified? My own response is an emphatic no. I don’t say it out of disrespect to John Paul the Second. I keenly followed his illness, his death and his funeral. I am convinced beyond doubt that he was a good and well meaning man. But to give him an elaborate state mourning when several of our own stalwarts passing have been overlooked and at times completely ignored sends the wrong signals. Why didn’t the late pontiff Chandrashekara Saraswati or M.S.Subbulakshi get state honours of equal magnitude? And our media gave the most rudimentary coverage for the passing of these two Indian icons (a notable exception being The Hindu’s extensive tribute to M.S). To me both the Indian Government and media are minority weary. True secularism is in truly treating all communities equally without fear or favour .Just by making a point by keeping the minority in good spirits and ignoring the majority community just to make a statement is anti-secularism and undemocratic.