By Matters India Reporter
Guwahati: The Assam Christian Forum, representing all denominations in the northeastern Indian state, has appealed to the people to vote for candidates who work for an inclusive and secular society and uphold the Constitution.
In the first such pre-election appeal, the forum also warned against the victimization of people if the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is promulgated. The Act seeks to fast-track the citizenship of non-Muslims who reportedly fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and took refuge in India till December 31, 2014.
ACF spokesperson Allen Brooks said the forum had in the past restricted itself to canvassing for free and fair elections and seeking jobs and development for the community.
“We are now speaking about an inclusive society because minorities are being increasingly intimidated. Father Stan Swamy’s arrest in the Bhima Koregaon case is an example. Another is the religion-specific CAA, though religion has nothing to do with citizenship,” he told The Hindu on Sunday.
“The ACF stands for the sanctity of the Constitution both in letter and spirit. The sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic character of the Constitution should be upheld and implemented,” the forum, headed by Rev John Moolachira, said in a statement on Saturday.
“Secularism must be further nurtured and strengthened: people of different faiths, ideologies, cultures and races should have the joy of living with dignity and freedom in the State. This implies that the freedom of religion should be facilitated and ensured; the worship and worship places, religious practices and services of the minority groups, and the autonomy of their institutions should be respected and protected as enshrined in the Constitution. Persons from minority communities should be given representation at all levels of governance and administration,” the forum said.
Christians constitute about 3.74 percent of Assam’s 33 million population, according to the 2011 census.
The text of the statement:
Assam Assembly Elections 2021
Assam Christian Forum, an ecumenical body of churches in Assam, declares its statement in the context of’ the forthcoming Assembly Elections in Assam, during March-April 2021 Assam Christian Forum stands for the sanctity of the Indian Constitution both in letter and spirit.
The Sovereign, Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic character of the constitution should be upheld and implemented. The practice of Democracy – government of the people, for the people, by the people – in its true essence should be reflected in every strata of the society. Secularism must be further nurtured and strengthened: people of different faiths, ideologies, cultures, and races should have the joy of living with dignity and freedom in the state.
This implies that the freedom of religion should be facilitated and ensured; the worship and worship places, religious practices and services of the minority groups, and the autonomy of their institutions should be respected and protected as enshrined • in the Constitution. Persons from minority communities should be given representation at all levels of governance and administration.
The right to land, livelihood and life of all the people of the state has to be respected, protected, and developed. Just wages should be given to all labourers, particularly tea garden workers. Laws should be so framed that they do not endanger the land, livelihood, and income of tribal people. Furthermore, the rights and well-being of farmers, fisherfolk, industrial workers, cottage industry workers, migrant workers, and the like, should not be suppressed. The Government should ensure that the economy is not surrendered to Corporate Houses.
Policies on education should facilitate the students’ freedom of choice of medium of education, as well as protect their cultural, racial, and religious identities. They should affirm the constitutional freedom of minority institutions with regard to their curricula and spiritual commitments. Similarly, Acts such as FCRA should not be implemented with prejudice and bias to suppress the noble services of Civil Society Organizations (NGOs) and minority bodies.
Nobody should be unjustly victimized by the promulgation of CAA. Women and children should be given all encouragement to live fuller lives; the government should ensure that there is no abuse and trafficking of women and children. The Environment Impact Assessment Act should not be implemented as it is detrimental to the homeland, identity, and dignity of our people and to our mountains, plains, forests, rivers and air.
Let there be free and fair elections!
Let us all live in love, freedom, and dignity!
The Assam Christian Forum’s (ACF) appeal to the people to vote for candidates who work for an inclusive and secular society and uphold the Constitution is very commendable.
However, I have serious reservations on ACF’s objections to the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. I would request ACF or it’s spokesperson Mr Allen Brooks on how the Act affects Christians of our country, more so when nowhere the Act prohibits Muslims from other countries from seeking Indian Citizenship. Grant of Indian citizenship to Adnan Sami, the famous musician and reportedly the world’s fastest keyboard player from Pakistan, is a case in point.
ACF’s reiteration that the “sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic character of the Constitution should be upheld and implemented,” is commendable indeed. But I guess all the political parties give this lip service. But as AFC spokesperson Mr Allen Brooks MUST ensure that the Study of the Indian Constitution in an easy-to-understand modular form is made part of the school and college syllabus in our Christian educational institutes. Mr Brooks is well-aware that even though as per the 2011 Census Christians constitute 2.3% of the total Indian population, Christian Missionaries own and control 25% of the educational institutions all over India. Without providing our students a proper grounding in the Indian Constitution (about 145,000 words, the second-longest active constitution—after the Constitution of Alabama—in the world), how can we expect upholding of sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic character the non-negotiable values of the constitution? Connect this with the percentage (below 10%) of Christian students in our own Minority institutes. Our students are a Minority in their own institutes which caters to 90% students from non-Christian communities. What leadership are we talking about? One Allen Brooks, one chhotebhai, one Derek O’Brien will not do. We need many more. To start on this, can Mr Allen Brooks, along with like-minded leaders take up the mapping of state-wise, diocese-wise and parish-wise mapping of Christian families and connect them with the schools, colleges and universities they study? I am very eager to know how much cooperation our Christian Minority institutes will accord in this respect.
In my comments, there are two typing errors. In Para 2 last sentence should read: I repeat the founding fathers and mothers of our Christian institutes must be restless in their GRAVES. at the total commercialization of their institutions to pamper to the elite class. In the last para: Each Christian and other Minority Institutions must have at least TWO government representatives on the Governing Body. All Christian schools. colleges and universities MUST have properly constituted Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) as per The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act and the existence of these must be well-displayed at the institutes. Most institutes do not display this. In the case of the Salesian School in Kolkata, during the interrogation by the one-man enquiry commission, the predator principal said the ICC Notification including the Members’ names was displayed in his and vice-principal’s office! To another query whether the teachers and staff were aware of the existence of ICC in school, he said “irrelevant question”. This principal along with the one-man (senior priest) are on the Education Commission of the Pastoral Plan of the Archdiocese of Calcutta! These are two jewels on the Archbishop’s crown!!
There is a need to take a relook at our Minority Institutions. Do our Christian Institutions deserve Minority Institution status where the percentage of Christian students is less than ten per cent, at least in the Archdiocese of Calcutta? Whom are we educating? Christian Colleges and Universities in Kolkata have become elitist, catering to more than ninety per cent students from non-Christian communities who go on to become captains of industry, agriculture and the nation and lambast Christians. For whom did our founding fathers (and mothers) found our Christian Educational institutions which wear the Minority Institution tag and get tax sops? Many students from our own communities drop out of schools due to financial and related problems. There is no follow-up on the causes and effects. Hardly anybody from the Church Hierarchy goes to look out for the lost sheep.
In our colleges and universities, very few Christian students are admitted. Most face an entry barrier (like St Xavier’s University) due to steep fees. Fee concessions are few and far between. Anyway, when the fees are so high, the concession becomes negligible and Christian students are made to feel like
second-class citizens by the authorities. When queries are raised on the number of Christian students vis-a-vis the total student strength in our school, colleges and universities, the authorities do not care to respond. I repeat the founding fathers and mothers of our Christian institutes must be restless in their grace at the total commercialization of their institutions to pamper to the elite class.
Many institutes under the constitutional cover of Minority Institutes (Article 30) get away with total mismanagement. Hire and fire of staff is rampant. The principal of a Salesian school (where a co-educational college is coming up) in Kolkata has several feathers on his cap for his sexual advances to his female members of staff. Whoever has complained has been threatened with her job or terminated. No ICC or namesake ICC exists. This priest is increasingly getting all the more arrogant as neither the Archbishop nor his Provincial is taking action against him. Most Christian Institutions (barring very few) are arrogant with money power. Take away the institutes from the Hierarchy, all their glaze, money-making racket (including hefty donations) and big talk will go. Priests like this Salesian institution boast of having the wards of top-notch judges, Police Officers and Media. They use these influential persons to stifle or wipe out any complaints that come up and thus make a total mockery of the Minority Institution tag. Depute them to Public Schools/Colleges/Universities and one will see how they wither away like dry flowers. Each Christian and other Minority Institutions must have at least government representatives on the Governing Body.
Good initiative
please speak about secularism in the countries where Christians are prosecuted not here in India.
It’s because of Hindu plurality than you can have Christians speaking up .PLeadeS try in MALAYSIA,PAKISTAN, and other countries of ISLAM