A letter issued by the East Kameng district Superintendent of Police to the president of the East Kameng Christian Forum (EKCF) seeking details of Christian believers in the district has created apprehension. State government however claimed the same as routine affair.
In the May 19 letter, the SP informed that the government was collecting data from all religious groups, and accordingly requested the president of EKCF to furnish data regarding the total number of Christian believers in the district, and names of church leaders / caretakers, along with list of churches and their locations for onward submission to the government within 10 days.
Clarifying on why the government was seeking details of religious groups, Government spokesperson Bamang Felix informed that it was a “routine secret exercise” conducted by the Security Branch of the government to collect data on various religious institutes. “This procedure is conducted for all religions and places on an annual basis, but the documents for East Kameng district were somehow made public. It has nothing to do with a specific religion as the letter itself reads that data is being collected for all religious grou-ps,” he said, before adding that it should not be misinterpreted.
Meanwhile, the Arunachal Civil Society (ACS) strongly condemned the SP’s letter and said that it was “unlawful and uncalled for.” It alleged that asking the details of Christians shows the hidden agenda of the BJP Government, while going on to claim that asking for unnecessary details would bring communal disharmony, religious hatred, and unrest among the different faiths living together.
