SHILLONG: Religion has never been a part of the election agenda in Meghalaya but with the entry of BJP, it has become an important issue in the poll-bound state.
The allegations against the BJP are that the party is anti-Christian in the wake of attacks on Christians elsewhere in the country and that it was against the food habits of the people.
The issue turned murkier when a Baptist leader, who was supposed to come to Garo Hills, was denied visa. However, BJP leaders KJ Alphons and Nalin Kohli, who are looking after the election affairs in Meghalaya, denied the saffron party’s role saying it was the Congress’s propaganda.
The announcement of tourism package by Alphons to improve infrastructure facilities of various worshipping places had also come under criticism with the Union tourism minister clarifying that the announcement was not an election stance.
The Congress, which is facing anti-incumbency and exodus of legislators from its fold, has focused on religion and issues related to beef ban in the context of the BJP’s move to expand its base in Meghalaya, a Christian-dominated state.
However, in the by-polls to Tura Lok Sabha seat in May 2016, though Congress candidate Dikkanchi D Shira, wife of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, had criticised BJP since NPP was part of the National Democratic Alliance, this did not pay the dividend since NPP candidate Conrad Sangma had a landslide victory.
Yet the Congress’s campaign is no different this time as the party is highlighting on the nexus between NPP and BJP citing that they are communal parties.
NPP state president WR Kharlukhi said if there are communal comments, it is up to the Election Commission to examine the matter.
But MPCC working president Vincent Pala said the BJP-led government at the Centre never withdrew the beef ban and it was only thanks to the court that the issue was addressed.
Last December before Christmas, when a question was asked on the attack on Christians, the Archbishop of Shillong Archdiocese Dominic Jala had stressed the need for peace and harmony among all sections of people while denouncing intolerance.
“We have to get out of the spirit of intolerance and look beyond our boundaries of religion, colours and races and focus on human beings as the children of a common God,” the Archbishop had said.
According to Jala, in some parts of the country, there are forces that the government may not be able to control or it could be that certain governments may be tacitly looking at situations and this creates a possibility for destructive and disruptive forces who want to create enmity and division.
The Archbishop had said all religions have the force to build a world that is peaceful and good, and religious and political leaders should not surrender their energy to people who are destructive but rather they should use all that is possible to create a world in which all can live.
