By Allen Brooks
Guwahati, July 27, 2019: The Assam Christian Forum has expressed anxiety over the haste in which the Indian government tries to press an “unstudied and un-reflected” Education Policy on the people of the country.
At an urgently called meeting in Guwahati, the state’s commercial capital, on July 26 the Church leaders noted that little respect is being shown to the autonomy of individual states and to their concern for preserving their identity and cultural heritage. They alleged a planned strategy to homogenize the Indian society, ignoring regional diversity and inherited ways of passing on the heirloom of centuries to the next generation.
They also noted that a carefully formulated strategy was in play to undermine the immense contribution in the field of education, and for weakening the efforts of minority groups and smaller communities to lift themselves up from their humbler positions. If implemented, this Education Policy will ensure that no one from the lower ranks will ever be able to go beyond and their assigned level, the forum said in a statement.
The gathering also took note of planned effort on the part of the Ruling Dispensation to divide existing Christian communities. Dissent is being systematically sponsored, fragmentation is encouraged, and irritant cells are being planted to as many Church groups are possible.
Those who work for the Dominant Party are formed into a “Christian Missionary Cell,” whose mission will be to collect data about Christian activities and pass it on to their opponents who wish to undermine the unity of the Christian service in the Northeast.
“Threat to Unity is the greatest threat that we see on the horizon,” leaders of the Assam Christian Forum felt.
The members of the Forum resolved to keep studying the situation and cautioning their respective communities about the threats to the community that are developing new dimensions.
The meeting was attended by leaders from the Catholic Church, Church of North India, Council of Baptist Churches of North East India, Presbyterian Church of India, Lutheran Church, and Evangelical Fellowship of India.