The Shillong All Faiths Forum (SAF), the Khasi Jaintia Christian Leaders Forum (KJCLF) and the Hynñiewtrep Youth Council (HYC) have all come together to denounce claims made by the Assam-based Hindu rights group – Kutumba Surakshya Parishad (KSP) that the recent clash in Mawkynrew village is an “act of religious intolerance”.
In separate statements today, the forums and the HYC said the claim was to provoke the issue and an attempt to sow the seed of communal tension.
“This organisation appears to further provoke the Mawkynrew issue to escalate into a friction on divisive and fundamentalist aspects of religion which are very negative,” SAFF vice president Noor Nongrum said.
“This is the same organisation which recently threatened our people with a road blockade on another issue related to tourism in our State,” he added.
Nongrum said as per media reports the crowd engaged in the incidents at Mawkynrew are not identified by their religious affiliations. “It is very wrong for the KSP to cast aspersions and accuse the Christian community in this manner,” he said.
The SAFF also appealed to the people and the local leaders in the Mawkynrew area to work with authorities in settling the issue amicably and to maintain peace and harmony.
KJCLF secretary Rev Dr EH Kharkongor termed the claims “insidious” and said no Church or Christian institution has initiated the trouble but the local citizenry of those areas were engaged in the altercations related to the issues that concern them.
“The KSP has no right nor basis to make the claims of “intolerance” on religious lines particularly against the Christian community in our State. This is clearly seen as a provocative act to stoke the fires of fundamentalism and exclusion in our diverse and secular country,’ he said.
Kharkong said the intention of the KSP is “militant in nature” as he referred to the recent threat made to the State of calling a roadblock on the issues related to the Mawjymbuin Cave. “It is prudent therefore that the authorities take timely steps on these types of organisations in order to prevent acts of communal and religious fanaticism in our State,” he added.
HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem said the KSP is painting a wrong picture of the state without verifying the facts and it should refrain from making irresponsible statements that would have far reaching repercussions to the peaceful coexistence of different faiths and communities in Meghalaya.
“In fact KSP should not view everything that happened in the State of Meghalaya to be anti- Hindu and conclude that it is a conspiracy by some religious groups against any particular religion. We call upon them to verify the facts first and then make a statement and not make derogatory or inflammatory statements first and then retract them later. We also called upon them to stop meddling too much into the affairs of our State,” he said.
It may be mentioned that the Mawkynrew clash was sparked by a contentious land allocation decision made by the village authorities of Mawkynrew Pyllun, which allotted land to the Ramakrishna Mission to construct a school.
