GUWAHATI:
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday “completely disassociated” himself from a letter of the Special Branch of Assam Police that sought information from all SPs of various districts on religious conversion and the number of churches set up in their respective districts in the last one year.
The letter was issued by the superintendent of police of the Special Branch on December 16 asking all SPs to submit their report along with suggestions on “countermeasures” on religious conversion by December 22.
The letter also asked the SP to furnish information on the allotment of land to these churches, key persons associated with these churches, instances of conversion in the last six years, community and other patterns of religious conversion and the prime factors for such conversions.
“I got a copy of this letter yesterday. I think we should not ask for information like there are how many churches in Assam.. This might hurt the sentiment of a particular community. We should avoid all such things,” Sarma told a news organisation on Saturday.
“I do not know in what context the SP had issued the letter. I have already asked DGP to inquire and take corrective measures because in Assam we want to live in peace and harmony,” Sarma said.
“We do not want to offend the religious sentiments of any community. In short, I completely disassociate from the letter. It was never discussed in the government forum. The letter is wholly unwarranted,” the chief minister said.
He said there is a distinction between forceful conversion and otherwise. He said Assam does not have a law to regulate conversion.
“Normally such letters go from the home department or the DGP if at all the government wants to issue such letters. But this letter has gone from the table of an SP of the Special Branch,” the chief minister said.
“Let me check the ground as to why it was issued. I want to clarify the position of the state government that we don’t want any survey on any religious institutions,” he added.
As the letter went viral, the United Christian Forum of North East India (UCFNEO) reacted sharply to it and said it was aggrieved and pained at the “circular” that sent a wrong narrative to the society.
“An unconstitutional census is being carried out against the Christian Community in Assam as it can be seen from the above circular. The intention seems to be a part of an agenda to create fear and disorder, especially during this Christmas season,” said UCF spokesperson Allen Brooks.
“For a community that has been very peaceful and always contributed more than its mite towards nation building through its various activities like Education, Social Services, Health Care, Social and Economical development activities etc, this intrusion is a blatant violation of our rights,” he added.