Christian leaders in north-eastern India on November 24 voiced great anxiety about “alar-mist news” being spread in co-nnection with the issue of con-version.
Such “painful developments” are “nothing but an effort to malign our community which has rendered yeoman service in the field of education, health and social development to all sections in society irrespective of caste, creed, or ethnicity,” said the leaders who met at Guwahati, the commercial capital of Assam state and nerve center of north-eastern India.
“We have been the first to denounce any sort of “forced” conversion. At the same time, we also affirm the right of every citizen to choose any religion of his/her own choice that the Constitution guarantees, see Article 25-28,” asserts a press statement the leaders issued after the meeting.
They termed as “very wrong to make false allegations of ‘con-version’ by force, fraud or inducement with the intention of humiliating our community. We feel that such accusations are made with the deliberate intention of dividing our society.”
The leaders represented the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India, Church of North India, Presbyterian Church of India, North East Christian Council (All Protestant Churches), Evangelical Fellowship Of India (All Pentecostal Churches) and the Regional Catholic Bishops Con-ference of North East India (All Catholic Churchs of the region).