EMN
DIMAPUR, January 2
Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) said Congress leader KV Pusa had just expressed his concern for the plight of religious minorities who are being ‘subjected to intense harassment’ in many parts of the country and are forced to convert by fringe elements of a particular religion backed by RSS with the BJP government remaining a mute spectator. “But it is appalling to note the statement of the state BJP leaders blindly defending the actions of its communal masters that has no substance and was uncalled for, especially at this juncture when religious discrimination is at its peak,” the NPCC said.
The NPCC in a statement then said that the state BJP leaders asking Congress leader KV Pusa not to meddle in the national issues of forced religious conversion that are beyond ‘our control,’ have exposed their narrow mindset that is unable to understand the repercussions of this issue which is a political tinder box. The state BJP leaders must understand that Nagaland being a Christian majority state cannot be insulated from this religious upheaval being created by communal forces and will be affected in way or the other if the present trend of religious discrimination continues, the NPCC note added.
“When communal temperatures are being heated up across the country by the RSS and fringe elements to target the religious minorities, more particularly the Christian community through a series of so called ‘Ghar Wapsi’ programmes, the BJP government had further gone ahead to declare Christmas day as so called ‘good governance day’ and make it a ‘working day’ thereby belittling the significance of the day revered by the Christians across the world,” the NPCC press release stated. The BJP ministers and MPs in and outside the Parliament issuing inflammatory and communally inciting speeches have become a routine affair. Prime Minister Modi and the BJP have managed to pull off the biggest political con act of the country since independence, it added. The tall promises of growth and economic development, recovery of black money and good governance have all receded into the background and the real hidden agenda of heating up communal temperatures to incite hatred against the religious minorities has dominated headlines for the past seven months, the NPCC statement also said.
It then said the BJP pitching for Anti Conversion Bill in Parliament is nothing but a ploy to further create religious divide and hatred. When the RSS and its affiliates like the VHP and other extremists have gone on record to state that conversion to Hinduism is a “Ghar Wapsi” (homecoming) and not “conversion” since they believe in the illusion that all Indians were originally Hindus, the sinister agenda behind the proposed anti conversion bill is to target other religious minorities on the pretext of violating anti conversion laws.
“The state BJP leaders instead of defending their communal BJP-RSS masters must have to answer to the people of Nagaland regarding their stand on ‘Ghar Wapsi’ programmes and reduced significance of Christmas day by making it a ‘working day’ that has hurt the sentiments of Christians across the country,” the NPCC statement demanded.
“ Enough of their (state BJP leaders) true character as opportunist individuals masquerading as leaders has been manifested through their press statements and it’s high time for concerned citizens and various organisations to denounce and reject these leaders who are ready to abandon their own upbringing and beliefs for the sake of sharing the spoils of power,” it added.
