Newmai News Network
Imphal | December 20
Surfacing with a new twist to the recent incident where a church was reportedly dismantled at Chingmeirong Kabui village on December 14, the Zeliangrong Rachapriak Phom (Zeliangrong religious council) of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland on Saturday has claimed “there is no church at all at Chingmeirong Kabui village and the question of attack or dismantling of a church at the village on December 14, does not arise”.
While maintaining that there is no such church in the village, the Zeliangrong Chapriak Phom Chapriak has also called upon “anyone” to verify whether there is a church existing or not. It also claimed that the picture shown in one of the state papers on December 16 as church dismantled was a “fabricated one” of a minor damage to one Kaphun Malangmei’s house. In this regard, the group claimed that the report was some Christian organisations’ ‘wild allegation’ to ‘draw attention and sympathy of the public’ in ‘blaming the Chingmeirong villagers as the law breakers and against the freedom of religion under the Indian Constitution’.
While ‘clarifying’ to the various allegations and condemnations by various Christian organisations and Naga bodies on different occasions in the newspapers, the Zeliangrong Rachapriak Phom claimed that some Chingmeirong Women (Meira Paibis) members had damaged the house ‘partly in anger for being blamed by the wife of one Kaphun Malangmei for throwing a stone at their house’. The religious council stated the Chingmeirong women were carrying out their normal duties that night at about 7:15 when Kaphun Malangmei and his wife came out with a torch and asked who threw the stone on their roof. When the women replied that they did not know anything of who threw the stone, the wife challenged them, the religious council claimed. In the conflict that followed, the Chingmeirong women partly damaged the house of Kaphun Malangmei, it added.
While referring to ‘constitutional allegations’, the Zeliangrong Rachapriak Phom questioned the “Christian brothers and sisters” if the Indian constitution permits anybody to breache peace and unity of the village. Anyone who converts to any religion other than “Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak (TRC)” the person should leave the village, the village informed to have decided. The council also claimed that the Christian organisations had issued a ‘one-sided condemnation’ against Chingmeirong village ‘without knowing the factual position and reality’.
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