By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Aug 2: National People’s Party (NPP) leader and cabinet minister, Rakkam A Sangma, has condemned the statement made by former MLA and Congress leader, John Leslee Sangma, against Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s stance on the Paris Olympics 2024 fiasco.
“I am extremely disturbed by the statement of John Leslee K. Sangma, former MLA and Congress leader, condemning Chief Minister Conrad Sangma for expressing disappointment and condemnation against the Paris Olympics fiasco for depicting the Last Supper of Lord Jesus,” Rakkam stated in a release on Friday.
Condemning Leslee for openly opposing the chief minister of Meghalaya for taking a stance for the Christians and protecting the Christian faith, Rakkam said, “The nation and all Christian communities across the world will appreciate the statement of CM Conrad Sangma, and if such a stature leader doesn’t react, who else then?”
He expressed surprise that Conrad’s stance against the Paris Olympics depiction has disturbed and pained the Congress leader. “This is unfortunate and never expected,” Rakkam added.
Lauding Conrad’s stance against the Paris Olympic fiascos, Rakkam said, “His stand against those disrespecting Christian faith in Paris Olympics 2024 is to be appreciated by all of us across the world.”
Rakkam criticised the Congress leader for not supporting the Christian community in condemning such disrespectful acts.
“I expect John Leslee to be a matured leader of Congress Party and he should not pollute the Christian faith by dragging for political mileage from such issue,” he said.
Accusing Leslie of being less rooted in the Christian faith, Rakkam said, “The act of Paris Olympics is a Satanic Act and should not be appreciated at any cost by anybody, including him. He should not glorify the Satanic Act by such testimony.”
On Thursday, Leslee termed Conrad’s condemnation of the Paris Olympics fiasco as a ‘cheap attempt to get political mileage and to hoodwink the people to gain some footing in the upcoming by-elections’.
“When the Chief Minister says religious sentiments must be respected, I would like to say that he must practice what he preaches and should not pretend to be deaf and dumb at what is happening in his own constituency and what has happened in the month of February 2023, where a man named Georgeman Marak, the general secretary of the NPP of Williamnagar along with three women and two men, all belonging to the party, deliberately hurt my religious sentiment and the religious sentiments of my fellow Christians by degrading and distorting the Christian song which is very sacred and has a powerful testimony for all Christians about our faith and about Christianity,” the former MLA said.
