Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 7
However small the number was, the message was loud and clear as a handful of Christian workers from various churches today staged a sit-in protest in front of the Dimapur BJP office at Super Market from 8 am to 1 pm protesting against the recent spate of attacks on churches in New Delhi and the inaction of the police and silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Placards reading ‘We stand in solidarity with the Delhi Christians,’ ‘Where is the freedom of religion,’ ‘Modi we want action, not silence,’ ‘No to Hindutva, yes to secularism,’ ‘India is a free country’, Give us the freedom of worship,’ ‘Lord have mercy on BJP,’ ‘Modi’s silent attack on Christians,’ ‘RSS means Rashtriya Sangh SNAKE Sangh’ etc were put up to show their solidarity to the fellow Christians and also to protest against the attacks.
“We the Christian community in Nagaland strongly condemn the recent attacks on churches in the national capital New Delhi. The desecration of the Holy Cross and the burning of an altar in one of the churches in Delhi reflects the deep seated hatred that the saffron forces in India have against the religious minorities, especially the Christians”, read a statement made available to the media by the protestors. The members also said the BJP led NDA government and Narendra Modi continue to remain silent over the matter and thereby implicitly encourage the anti national forces like the RSS, Sang Parivar and Bajrang Dal to tear the nation to pieces in order to fulfill their distorted version of Bharat. “We believe that these attacks have been encouraged by the communal speeches of Narendra Modi, who stubbornly refuses to enforce the constitutional guarantee of right to freedom of religion,” the statement added.
“The increased cases of persecution of Christians throughout India by these communal forces only strengthen our resolve as Christians to stand up and fight for our rights, not as minority but as citizens of a great country,” the note stated. Also taking a solemn pledge, the members said that they “will stand with them till the very end, as we struggle together to get rid our beloved country totally from the scourge of these cancerous saffron forces.”
Speaking at the dharna, Obangtemsu Aier, a church worker, said that communal politics will not be tolerated. The people of India did not vote the BJP to power because of religion but for development and progress and urged the BJP to stop communal politics. “The country is divided right infront of our eyes. In 1947, India got divided in the name of religion but we cannot let that to happen again”, he asserted while urging the citizens to respect other religions. “Whatever be the religion, be it Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, we can live together as one and it is time for everyone to stand up and protect the country,” he added.
While also declaring that atrocities on minorities will not be tolerated anymore, Obangtemsu also appealed Governor PB Acharya and Chief Minister TR Zeliang to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take quick action against the perpetrators.
