Ex-VPP member blames party’s shift towards ‘religious fanaticism’
SHILLONG, April 21: Avner Pariat, who was expelled by the Voice of the People Party (VPP) on Saturday, has stated that he had already decided to leave the party and readied his resignation letter due to the party’s shift towards “religious fanaticism”.
In a letter addressed to the party and shared with the media, the former member of VPP’s state executive committee said, “It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter of resignation from the Voice of the People Party (VPP). My decision is not one of haste, but of deep reflection. I joined the VPP with the belief that it stood for positive change, which is the need of the hour. However, as time has passed, I have become increasingly disillusioned by the direction the party has taken.”
“The party’s shift towards religious fanaticism has been particularly troubling for me as I was never raised (though I come from a long line of servants of the Presbyterian Church) to be overcome by religious fervour. The promise of progress that once inspired me to join this party has been replaced by a regressive agenda that I can no longer support in good conscience,” he added.
Pariat also informed that many supporters had asked him to keep mum about the issue.
“Many supporters have urged me to stay silent and to speak out only once I am MDC (which I have a strong chance of winning) but it is against my principles to be duplicitous. Hence, I feel it is better to exit gracefully while the party is still at its high point rather than at its nadir. I will retire — for the time being — from state electoral politics which has become so divisive and cruel,” he said.
“I was known for being an independent critic and I will return to this role as I feel it is the best fit for me as I endeavour to expand the minds and ideas of the people. I will not join any other political party in the immediate future, so my silence about party meetings and discussions is guaranteed,” he added.
Meanwhile, VPP spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh, while expressing his discontent at Pariat’s remarks, said, “The VPP believes in secularism and even in the party meetings, we never invoke any religious principles, we never conduct the prayer of a particular religion. He was a part of the party and he does not know that.”
“If in a party meeting, we say we adopt certain dogmas of a particular religion then he is right in making this accusation but I am hundred per cent sure and telling the truth that we never invoke any particular religion in the meetings. I would say people who read the party in that way is totally wrong and he totally misunderstands the party,” he added.
Myrboh went on to say that the VPP has a secular ideology, which the party cannot compromise.
“When he joined the party, maybe he did not read the constitution of the party properly. We, as a party, stand on strong grounds — one is clean politics, another is good governance. We believe in the Constitution of India, we believe in Fundamental Rights and the basic human rights of all the citizens of India but emphasis is on the special provisions of the constitution for the protection of the rights of the indigenous or tribal people,” he added.