HT Correspondent
DIMAPUR, Sept 4: The Nagaland Joint Christian Forum (NJCF) has urged the Punjab government to do all it can to bring the perpetrators responsible for the recent vandalisation of a church in Taran Taran district of the state to book and deal with them sternly according to the law of the land.
It said the authority should not leave the matter at the “sympathy level” but must investigate and go down to the bottom and expose the “link” because what happened in Punjab is not an isolated case.
“There is an undercurrent movement to destroy the secular spirit in the country. Only when the authority takes what has happened seriously as a threat to the nation then confidence and insecurity feelings of the minorities will be restored and the nation will move forward,” the NJCF said in a press release.
It said the vandalisation of the church has once again raised an alarm that the Christians are never secure in the hands of the majority.
Terming the incident “most unfortunate”, it demanded justice along with the assurance to the Christian community and other minority groups that “we matter to the nation as much as the majority”.
Noting that India has always taken pride in her size as the world’s most populous democracy in the world, the forum said, “However, unfortunately, this is turning out to be a threat to the religious minorities in the big nation.”
According to it, “The uncontrolled elements fuelled by certain religious fanatics in the country have emboldened certain scrupulous groups to create restless and unsafe situations across the nation.”
The forum appreciated Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann for reassuring the people by proclaiming that a probe has been initiated into the “highly condemnable” incident. The NJCF, however, said, “Until the people who are in power at the Centre take a drastic step and action it will be labelled as conspiracy.”
“We are not new to this kind of situation. Minority groups have gone through untold miseries time and again leading them to lose their faith and trust in the system to protect them,” the forum said.
