Dimapur, February 18 (MExN): The Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) has released a press statement condemning the use of religious phrases like ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Praise the Lord’ in political campaigns. “This is election campaign and not a spiritual-religious campaign… Election campaign is not a worship service. Using the Hallelujah and Praise the Lord in the political platform is nothing but an insult and a ploy to divide the Christians majority society,” the NBCC stated in a press release issued by General Secretary Rev Dr Zelhou Keyho.
While it did not take any names, the NBCC’s statement gains significance as few incidents of using religious language in political campaigns in the poll-bound state sparked criticism from various quarters over the last few days.
The press release further highlighted the persecution and harassment faced by religious minorities in India, including Christians, who are often accused of illegal conversion and subjected to anti-conversion laws. Drawing attention to India’s ranking as the “10th most dangerous country to live in for Christians,” it accused the concerned politician of remaining silent on the issue and not standing up for the rights of minorities.
“You are not given a religious platform but a political platform. Therefore, a line should be drawn and the platform should not be used to hurt the sentiments of the Christians in this part of the country you are touring,” it said, while calling on the person to do their homework and address the suffering of minorities in the country, instead of using religious language as a ploy to win votes.
Further, the NBCC also put the blame on state politicians stating that they have not oriented their campaigners with the religious-faith ethos of the people. “Anyone can come to campaign for you but there should be some civic sense of respect for others. You cannot play with the sentiments of others for your political mileage,” it maintained.
Refrain from conforming to political inducement: ABAM
Meanwhile, the Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang (ABAM) also issued a statement in this regard, calling on “every right-thinking citizen to refrain from conforming to political inducement as it has the potent to mislead any religious faith community.”
In the statement, ABAM Executive Secretary, Rev Dr Mar Pongener maintained that the ‘cynical abuse’ of Christian faith and belief by the party-political campaigners in recent week in Nagaland is yet another deploring and deliberate attempt to sabotage the identity of Christian community in Nagaland.
According to the release, “‘Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!’ is a Christian sacred expression meant for their reaffirmation and commitment with awe and reverence but to syncretise it with ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ is purely communal as it forces certain mythological idea of motherland Bharat being Devi, a Hindu deity.”
While ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai,’ may suit a particular faith and religious philosophy, to utter both phrases at a time for one’s own political gain is disgraceful, it added.
