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Kolkata, March 11.
To stop conversions under greed, pressure and fraudulent means, the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (ABVKA) has demanded that the rules of the Religious Freedom Act, 1978 passed in Arunachal Pradesh should be made immediately and this law should be strictly implemented.
This demand was made by ABVKAs National President Satyendra Singh and Vice President Techi Gubin in a press conference held in Kolkata today.
Satyendra Singh further said that to protect the indigenous faith and culture of janajatis (tribes) of Arunachal Pradesh and to prevent conversions under greed, pressure or fraudulent means, the then Janata Party government had passed the Arunachal Pradesh Religious Freedom Act in 1978. Unfortunately, due to its rules not being framed yet, this law has not been implemented for the last 47 years, due to which the Christian population in the state increased to 31% by 2011, which was only 1 percent before the law was made.
The Itanagar permanent bench of the Gauhati High Court, while giving an order on a public interest petition on September 30, had ordered the Arunachal Pradesh government to notify the rules for implementing this law within 6 months from the day of the order. Underlining this, Satyendra Singh ji said that as this period was approaching closer, the church and the organizations inspired by it had started opposing the court’s order and the state government’s efforts to frame rules. ABVKA condemns these actions of various organisations.
Expressing serious concern about the serious consequences of conversion, Satyendra Singh ji further said that in these 50 years, conversion has swallowed almost half the population of the Sanatan – Swadharmi tribal society of Arunachal Pradesh, its indigenous faith and culture. In this small state with a population of 15 lakhs, two bishops and thousands of people inspired by churches are today protesting against the High Court order and efforts of state government to frame the rules in compliance with it.
Kalyan Ashram is deeply concerned about country’s media and various political parties of turning a blind eye and sitting silently on this.
The state government of Arunachal Pradesh till now have already shown gross negligence in this matter. Therefore, fulfilling its constitutional responsibility, the Arunachal Pradesh government should immediately notify these rules and start strict implementation of this law is the demand of Kalyan Ashram in this press conference. ABVKA also requests Union Home Minister to make necessary intervention in this matter to protect the cultural identity of the patriotic tribes of this border-sensitive state.
