SHILLONG:
Meghalaya BJP, on June 16, organised a “Bonding of Culture & Tradition” in the party office in Shillong as part of the Goa Statehood Day celebrations under the banner of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
This BJP’s Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat is a programme that aims to enhance interaction and promote mutual understanding between people of different states/UTs through the concept of state/UT pairing. The states carry out activities to promote a sustained and structured cultural connect in the areas of language learning, culture, traditions & music, tourism & cuisine, sports and sharing of best practices, etc.
The programme was attended by Goa Minister Nilesh Cabral, in the presence of Sunil Deodhar, the National General Secretary of the BJP and North East In Charge Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat Programme, BJP state president Ernest Mawrie among other party leaders.
Addressing the gathering, Goa Minister Nilesh Cabral said that it is not easy to celebrate someone else’s statehood day in another state, “but I am grateful to the organisers for making this a reality because this concept initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will further strengthen the bond of brotherhood among all citizens of this great nation.”
Rubbishing the perception of BJP being anti-Christians, Cabral said, as a devout Catholic and a three-time BJP MLA, he had never come across any kinds of ill-treatment being meted out to the Christian brothers and sisters in Goa, which also has a large population of Christians.
“Over 70 percent of the population in Meghalaya are Christians and so is Goa; we have a large number of Christians. I, myself, am a Catholic. Goa is ruled by the BJP despite it being a state with a huge population of Christian; this only goes on to prove the narrative of BJP being anti-Christians wrong,” he said.
Meanwhile, touching on the controversial Uniform Civil Code (UCC) issue, the minister said that people have different perception about UCC, some of which are not true. “UCC is a proposal that will streamline marriages and divorces; ensuring that the property is shared equally between husband and wife,” he said.
Referring to the Goa civil code, Cabral said that Goa was separated from India due to colonial rule in the erstwhile Portuguese Goa and Damaon; it became a union territory, along with Daman and Diu islands, only in 1967 and in May 30 1987, the union territory was split, and Goa was made India’s twenty-fifth state, with Daman and Diu remaining a union territory.
During this period, it retained a common family law known as the Goa civil code and thus being only state in India with a uniform civil code till date, regardless of religion, gender, caste.
UCC is a proposal in India to formulate and implement personal laws of citizens which apply on all citizens equally regardless of their religion, gender and sexual orientation. Implementation of a uniform civil code across the nation is one of the contentious promises pursued by the BJP.
Speaking about the country’s diversity, Cabral said that he is proud to belong to a nation with so much diversity, adding that there is no other country in the world with this kind of diversity.
Stating that the beauty of India lies in its diversity, he said that the Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat Programme is a celebration of that diversity while at the same time, fostering a bond of friendship and brotherhood.
“India is the fastest growing economies in the world. The Ukraine war has impacted the economies of different countries but not India and is because of the decisive economic policies of the prime minister. India is indeed a growing nation; and if all states of the country support each other, in the next 25 years, we wouldn’t have to Pay Rs 70 or 80 for a dollar,” he added.