LBCA imbroglio: Rally calls for peace and unity

WOKHA — The Lotha Baptist Churches Association (LBCA) on Tuesday organised a peace rally in Wokha town relating to the prolonged and unresolved imbroglio among churches under the association.

Placards and banners on the various grievances and call for unity among the Lotha Baptist churches to come together through peace were displayed during the rally.

The peace rally started from Zero Point, Vankhosung, and culminated at Wokha town Police Point where a mass prayer for peace within the churches and the Lotha community was held.

Before the rally, a brief programme was held at Zero Point, Vankhosung, under Wokha village jurisdiction, where Rev. Nyanchumo Lotha, executive secretary of LBCA, highlighted the aim of holding the peace rally.

During the programme, attended by 96 units of Lotha Baptist churches, the association’s secretary Nongothung Kikon read out a memorandum, which was later submitted to the deputy commissioner of Wokha.

Earlier, interacting with the media, the LBCA executive secretary said that the peace rally was to express the untold “long hardships and miseries” in the past couple of years due to differences within the LBCA.

According to Rev. Nyanchumo, Lothas are being misled and the need of the hour is to restore peace and harmony within the community and the Lotha Baptist churches. He added that the rally is to bring total transformation and restoration of LBCA.

The association’s president, Rev. Sankiluma Kikon, also highlighted that earlier many groups, CSOs and leaders had tried to bring the Lotha Baptist churches under one fold, but could not succeed due to “some untold factors and misguiding the churches.”

Kikon affirmed that the nomenclature LBCA ‘R’ stands for ‘Reformation’ of all the 147 Lotha Baptist churches under LBCA, including “the neutral churches or the minority party.”

He also claimed that a total of 104 churches are with the LBCA ‘Reformation’ while the remaining churches including 19 neutral churches are in favour of the LBCA splinter group.

Kikon further expressed optimism that the splinter group which, he alleged, was being misled and misguided, will join the “mainstream.”

Jenibemo Kithan, youth secretary of LBCA, was of the view that the root cause of the LBCA imbroglio was due to factors including “constitutional error, infringement of the local church and regulation and governance of LBCA.”

The legal advisor of LBCA, advocate Orenvungo Humtsoe, also shared the cases pending in the court with regard to the LBCA imbroglio.

Lift 144 CrPC from Vankhosung — LBCA

Maintaining that peaceful atmosphere has been restored at Vankhosung Mission Center since July 18, the Lotha Baptist Churches Association (LBCA), in a memorandum to deputy commissioner of Wokha, demanded immediate lifting of Section 144 CrPC from Vankhosung jurisdiction.

The association in the memorandum also asserted that the LBCA imbroglio is an internal matter of the association and cautioned that henceforth any external interference in the affairs of LBCA will not be tolerated.

“We live in a democratic society where the majority voice has its say in the ruling of any establishment/institution. The minority group within the LBCA has lost its mandate, and we strongly denounce any hold/claim made by the minority group within the LBCA establishment.

“Let it be also known that the LBCA does not belong to any individual, church or any syndicate or self-styled group,” the memorandum stated.

The association stated that the sole objective of the LBCA majority group is to reform the establishment that has become toxic and corrupt from within.

“Therefore, we discourage any attempt to disrupt the present established system of the LBCA constituted by the majority churches affiliated under LBCA,” it stated.

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