Don’t Turn Sacred Festivals into Political Battlegrounds
Editor,
The Voice of the People Party’s (VPP) protest against inviting Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to the Behdienkhlam Festival is unfortunate. It is disappointing to see a sacred cultural and religious festival being dragged into political controversy. Behdienkhlam is a centuries-old festival of the Pnar community. It is a festival of faith, culture, and unity. The responsibility of organising the festival, including deciding whom to invite, belongs entirely to its organisers. No political party should interfere in these decisions.
The border dispute between Meghalaya and Assam is an important issue and should be resolved as early as possible. But connecting that issue with a religious festival is not the right approach. There are proper platforms where political leaders can raise and discuss such matters. A sacred festival should not be used to send political messages.
It is also wrong to assume that inviting someone to a festival means supporting that person’s politics or government. In our culture, inviting guests is a tradition of respect and hospitality. It should not be misunderstood or turned into a political issue. If political parties start deciding who can or cannot attend our traditional festivals, it will weaken the freedom and dignity of our cultural institutions. Our festivals should remain above party politics and continue to bring people together.
The people of Meghalaya expect political leaders to protect and respect our rich traditions, not create unnecessary controversy around them. There is a time and place to discuss political issues, but Behdienkhlam is not one of them.
The VPP should think carefully before turning sacred festivals into political battlegrounds. Such actions do not strengthen our traditions; they only create division and take attention away from the true purpose of the festival.
Yours etc.,
Mantre H Dkhar,
Via email
Not in the name of Xavier
Editor
May I refer to the letters by D. Bhattacharjee and NK Nehar in the Shillong Times of July 10, 2026 in which they have registered their objections to the proposal to establish a university in the name of Francis Xavier. Any informed person has to concur with their views.
Xavier was responsible for initiating the Goa Inquisition which lasted from 1560-1812, with a brief hiatus from 1774-78. Historians agree that the Goa Inquisition was characterized by exceptional brutality, even more than the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions. Some have characterised the torture and slaughter of Hindus, Muslims, Protestant Christians, and Jews as a holocaust. Buddhists and tribals were also not spared.
The Inquisitors also burned books written in Sanskrit, Dutch, English, or Konkani, as they were suspected of containing teachings that deviated from Catholic doctrine or promoted Protestant, Hindu or Muslim doctrine. While conversion to Catholicism was the main objective, it was also a strategy to remove competition in trade.
In 1545, Francis Xavier wrote to King John III of Portugal requesting a Goan Inquisition. The original letter still exists, and contains this passage, “The second necessity which obtains in India, if those who live there are to be good Christians, is that your highness should institute the holy Inquisition; for there are many who live according to the law of Moses or the law of Muhammad without any fear of God or shame before men.”
Hundreds of Hindu temples were destroyed. Hindu marriages were not permitted and possession of an idol was described as a crime. “The Destruction of the Inquisition in Goa” is a poem by early American poet Lydia Sigourney, published in her 1815 collection Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse. The poem is a noteworthy historical record of how the atrocities committed during the Portuguese colonial era in Goa resonated globally, reaching early 19th-century American literary circles.
The purpose of this letter is not to denigrate any religion, but to draw attention to historical facts. Given the history of communal clashes in India, the decision to memorialise Francis Xavier is an affront to inter-religious harmony. Surely Meghalaya does not need this flashpoint for trouble. The Government must rescind this decision.
Many authentic references from Western and Indian scholars in respected academic sources can be cited. These references can be supplied on request.
Yours, etc.,
Alister Mawrie,
Via email
Pioneering Concept of Land Banks
Editor,
The recent tabling of the Land Bill in the KHADC is significant and simultaneously offers a holistic approach towards streamlining administrative procedures involving land rights and land ownership. Most interesting was the discussion to initiate land banking to address homeless families within a village commune, alongside establishing a land ceiling for those purchasing land within the Council’s jurisdiction. For readers, the concept of the land bank was envisaged by Phrang Roy, former IFAD Vice President, Daniel Ingty former Director of Agriculture and Late Professor A.K.Nongkynrih from NEHU, during the maiden intervention under the erstwhile MRDS-IFAD LIPH project where we had worked together.
The whole idea of the land bank was to educate and sensitize the local village communities on land conservation by addressing landless farming households as well as villagers who lacked the capital to purchase land. The Meghalaya Institute of Governance also addressed this subject, when I was working as a resource expert to guide and develop this model in select areas of Khasi and Jaintia Hills with support from Aiban Swer, the then Director of MIG along with inputs from Patricia Mukhim.
The current move by the VPP led-executive committee is a step in the right direction provided that the State Government is taken into confidence as a partner, not as an adversary that is against the welfare and right to land ownership within the jurisdiction of the Dorbar Hima, Dorbar Raid and Dorbar Shnong. It is sad that even after 50 plus years of statehood we have no clear state policy to address the growing landlessness faced by our people – in particular – the urban poor and the rural poor too. I hope this letter hits the ears and minds of the state to draw up a policy in collaboration with all stakeholders.
Yours etc.,
Dominic S. Wankhar,
Via email
