JOWAI: Some leaders of the Moolamylliang Presbyterian Church in East Jaintia Hills have allegedly converted a community hall into a church meeting place. The move was strongly objected by members of the village dorbar.
The village dorbar had lodged a complaint with the East Jaintia Hills deputy commissioner who failed to take any action against the church leaders.
The village dorbar lodged another complaint to the chief election officer stating that the community hall was used as a polling station in the past but this time the polling station has been shifted to a government LP school in the village as the dorbar hall has been partitioned for church services.
The community hall was also being used as a LP school and with the partition of the hall for church meetings students and teachers are facing difficulties.
The complaint letter to the CEO stated that the dorbar hall is the venue for village meetings and doubles as a polling station during elections. After its acquisition by the church the villagers will face difficulty voting in the forthcoming Assembly polls.
The community hall was constructed by the irrigation department in 2001 for farmers to meet and discuss their grievances. The statement issued by the dorbar said the church leaders in the village have illegally occupied the community hall since July, 2017.
