Editor,
The caption above may be described as the Government’s attitude towards the churches in our state. There has been so much hue and cry as to why there are no relaxations on congregational gatherings of particularly the Christians while every other festival, celebrations, elections and so on, have been going on with zero implementation of covid protocols — even little children have been seen participating in them. Glancing at the past few months we are reminded of how the restrictions were imposed on all including religious gatherings, and it may be safe to say that churches immediately responded to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis by following each one of the restrictions and protocols issued from time to time. These have had a dramatic impact on a broad spectre of human rights, including freedom of movement and assembly, which in turn have an impact on other rights such as freedom of religion or belief.
In trying to battle an invisible enemy, countries around the world have had different responses and the same can be said about our state of Meghalaya. Here too places of worship were immediately shut down and also mass meetings like Synod, Procession, Presbytery, Districts, and others were stopped; and at that time no one disputed that the pandemic calls for temporary safety measures with the expectation that the restrictions would be removed when it is safe to do so. In well-functioning democracies of which we too are a part of, citizens may reasonably expect their governments to lift the current restrictions in due time. However, now there is a concern that the pandemic will exacerbate authoritarian trends in government. With regards to religious communities and minorities, this may come in the form of continued stigmatisation, discrimination, and harassment.
In societies where leaders and politicians have a history of prioritising private over public interests, there is already established levels of public distrust in political leadership and the integrity of public officials have been questioned. Recently though relaxations on regular church service was issued by the government, however mass gatherings and attendance of children are still prohibited which has resulted in a dramatic drop in attendance of church services.
Our Khasi culture does not encourage discussions at dinner tables and many times elders tell the younger members to be quiet while dining but in these last few days religion and politics have clearly eaten at our dinner tables. Religion and politics can be polarizing, precisely because they deal with important matters that are deeply personal and close to our passions. But these discussions do not have to be polarizing or combative. When people say, “Don’t mix religion and politics,” they actually mean “Don’t bring your faith into the public square where I can see it.” In other words, hide your faith outside of your place of worship because there is a separation between Church and State. So, the question arises: should we really be silent or should we ask questions as to why all other gatherings are allowed except those conducted by the Churches. The reason may just be because there is no political gain whether the protocols on religious gatherings are lifted or not, so no one in the government is bothered about what may be called minor issues to them.
The pandemic has also exposed the good and bad side of society as a whole. It can be said that we are like what Charles Dickens’ starting lines of his Tale of Two Cities, are, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
Hence the role of leaders is not to pretend that the unique values of the country or society will save them, but to support those that need help. That judicious combination of Commander and Leader is never simple, but it is necessary. In some cases, the commander is often decisive, but sadly their direction and actions depend upon the polls and all the rest matters very little. We the citizens are the sufferers and the most vulnerable because our commanders and their decisions to lockdown, to quarantine, to issue protocols etc., in the state and even the country are made within just a few hours’ notice with seemingly little planning. The people are to bear the consequences of the decisions, from the poorest members of the society to the most affluent. It has even affected thoughts in the spiritual realm. Hence as important as it is for the commander to be decisive and sure while imposing restrictions, the call is for our commanders not to be sedate, and slow when the time comes to relax the restrictions imposed.
Having said all this we should remember that the virus is still present at some levels in the population and only a minority of people have antibodies to the virus – and it is still not known whether these antibodies confer immunity. This means that most people are still susceptible to COVID-19. This fact must be taken into account when decisions about reopening public areas and also churches are being made and as responsible citizens and congregations we should follow all measures to reduce the risk of another wave of the dreaded virus.
Yours etc.,
Wanjop Warbah,
Via email