GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma “completely disassociated” himself from a letter of an SP of the police’s Special Branch that sought information from all SPs on religious conversion and the number of churches established in their respective districts in the past year.
The letter was issued purportedly on December 16 and the SPs were asked to submit their report along with suggestions on “counter measures” by December 22.
Sarma told a news channel that after he had received a copy of the letter on Friday, he asked the DGP to conduct an investigation.
“I think we should not ask for information like there are how many churches in Assam. This might hurt the sentiments of a particular religious community. We should avoid all these kinds of things,” the CM said.
“I don’t know in what context the SP issued the letter. I have asked the DGP to inquire and take corrective measures as we, in Assam, want to live in peace and harmony and don’t want to offend the religious sentiments of any community. I completely disassociate myself from the letter. It was never discussed in any government forum. The letter is wholly unwarranted,” Sarma said.
He said there is a distinction between forceful conversion and otherwise. He said Assam does not have a law to regulate conversion.
“Normally such letters go from the Home Department or the DGP if at all the government wants to issue such letters. But this letter has gone from the table of an SP of the Special Branch,” the CM said.
“Let me check the ground as to why it was issued. I want to clarify the position of the state government that we don’t want any survey on any religious institutions,” he added.
The Assam Christian Forum said it was aggrieved and pained at the “circular” that sent a wrong narrative to the society.
“The Christian community has contributed immensely to the Assamese society. We have got thousands of schools in Assam and the Northeast. We are at the forefront of nation-building. The last Chief Minister (Sarbananda Sonowal) was a product of the Don Bosco (Higher Secondary School), Dibrugarh,” the forum’s spokesperson Allen Brook told this newspaper.
Stating that he received calls from many Christian leaders, he said the forum would “take up” the matter after Christmas.