Shillong MP Vincent H Pala, of the Congress Party, has expressed distaste over the allegation made by the Voice of the People Party (VPP) that church elders have in the past distributed alcohol during election time to lure voters towards one party or another.
“It takes years to become a tymmen basan (Church elder). It takes a lot of exercise for people in a village to identify who should be a tymmen basan,” Pala said today.
The VPP has frequently made use of religious imagery, prayers and quoting scripture in its campaigning, so much so that it has been accused by commentators of being a Christian version of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Its attack on supposedly corrupt church elders could be hugely risky in a devout society.
According to Pala, if the VPP is courageous enough it should identify who are those individuals who are indulging in such activities so that the Church can take action.
The Congress MP said that the strength of the church reflects the strength of society and vice versa, so if the church is corrupt then so too will be the society at large. To blame the entire church is unfair and the VPP would be well advised to apologise for its allegations that will only damage the reputation of the church, he added.
