Nagaland church seeks repeal of good governance day on Dec 25

Northeast India has sizable Christian population.

Guwahati:  Church bodies in Northeast India opposed NDA government’s decision of holding good governance day on Christmas Day on December 25. The church bodies felt that this will hurt the sentiment of minorities.

Church body, Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) the decision if not reversed will be discriminatory move against the minorities. Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitu Committee (MKHC), a committee of church leaders in the State has moved President Pranab Mukherjee to repeal the Central government’s decision to observe Good Governance Day on Christmas Day.

Northeast India has sizable christens population. In a statement NBCC said the controversy over Narendra Modi government’s decision to observe national Good Governance day, has returned to hurt the sentiments of Christian minority in India and majority in Nagaland. “The decision was an attempt to dilute the importance of the day and unless rectified, will go down in history as a “discriminatory move against religious minorities.”

NBCC said it could not agree more with Narendra Modi’s stand that Good Governance was the key to a nation’s progress and lauded his commitment for a transparent and accountable administration for the betterment of the common citizens. However, it said observing it on an auspicious occasion was “thoughtless and insensitive” particularly to the Christian minority in India.

NBCC slammed the motive to hold Good Governance on December 25 as nothing short of following the Sangh’s policies to suppress religious minorities in secular India.

NBCC said it honoured former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and had nothing against him though Good Governance Day was set on December 25 (Vajpayee’s birthday). However it said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was well aware that December 25 was a sacred day and known as Christmas the birth of Jesus Christ, celebrated for the last 2000 years by Christians worldwide.

NBCC said the government was today playing with the sentiments of 2.4 crore plus Christians in India and asked what would be next? It reiterated that the utmost priority of any progressive government ought to be peace and harmony but such instance as above, that disturbed people’s minds and undermined the nation’s secular fabric would only lead to the establishment of tyranny of the majority.

“If such tendency was not restrained, then democracy would be one that ruled on behalf of the majority community and not on the basis of “rightness and excellence,” NBCC observed.

NBCC urged upon the Central government to “stay away” from causing divisions and keep away from instigating communal feelings and insecurity but instead go ahead with programmes without infringing on religious rights, whether it be majority or minority so that India could be known the world over, as a secular country with tolerance.

Recently State BJP president of Mizoram, Dr JV Hluna, stated that ‘Good Governance Day’ will never be observed on Christmas Day in the Christian-dominated state of Mizoram.

Source: Economic Times