TURA/SHILLONG, Feb 15: Meghalaya BJP vice president and Tura MDC, Bernard N Marak has written to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma seeking protection for Christians in the region.
The Tura MDC made the request based on social media posts of alleged verbal discrimination, attack, provocation, allegation, intimidation, ultimatum and unlawful trespassing on Christians by Assam Hindutva leader Satya Ranjan Borah.
“He (Borah) has been constantly targeting the missionary institutions. The communal instigation is rising and targeted on such institutions that have contributed so much to the growth of society in the field of education and social service,” Bernard said in his letter to Himanta.
Pointing out that Christians in Assam are helpless, insecure and struck with fear, Bernard sought that steps be taken to ensure protection of Christian Missionary institutions by providing them maximum security, and to direct all concerned authorities to pass prohibitory orders against such communal instigations.
The Khasi Jaintia Christian Leaders Forum (KJCLF) has also taken strong note of the harassment, perversion and threat of violence to the educational institutions run by inclusive Christian institutions and their dedicated personnel providing service to society and the nation.
“It appears that violent groups filled with hatred and prejudice against the minority Christians in the region are on a wild rampage with their bullying activities targeting institutions of learning, discipline and those committed to the welfare of the youth and their future,” KJCLF said in a statement.
It said that on another tangent, with the nod to a bill which will ban ‘magical’ healing in the name of treatment by faith healers, in Assam the dispensations in power are ferociously groping against aspects of piety, prayer, faith and spirituality which constitute the wholeness of a human person.
With the culture and spirit of harmony and inclusion in the region, the KJCLF appealed to the cultured Assamese people and the enlightened societies in the region to shake and shatter the perpetrators of hatred and prejudice and oppose those who are bereft of faith and hope in life.
“The Forum urges the parents and members of the society to protect the institutions of learning and the teachers who are committed to offer guidance for the welfare and future of their children. The Forum also exhorts all citizens to protect the sanctity of their faiths and beliefs guided by their conscience and sound mind, and must speak out against the forces that seek to destroy our culture of harmony and peace among societies and communities,” the statement added.
