Anti conversion law mooted in state
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, May 20 2012:
With outside religious agencies setting their foot on the soil of Manipur and trying their level best to convert all the people of the state into their respective religions using every possible means, the indigenous faiths and beliefs in the state are today on the verge of extinction, G Paoshing, Secretary of Indigenous People's Forum, Ragailong, Imphal has expressed concerned.
So, it is high time for the state government to come up with an anti conversion Act to stop such harmful influences, he added.
Addressing media persons, G Paoshing informed that almost all the people in the hill areas have been converted to Christianity.
Even the Kabuis settling in the plain areas were attempted to be lured on different occasions by Christian Missionaries to convert into Christianity, taking undue advantage of consoling the people at any given opportunities.
This trend would lead to extinction of indigenous faiths and beliefs of the Kabui community in the long run.
He cited the examples in which Christian missionaries came rushing to families in Kabui dominated area whenever someone in a family falls sick and tempts him/her to convert to Christianity saying that if baptized all the diseases would be gone forever.
A number of people have been baptized in this manner.
Paoshing pointed out that even though the Constitution of India gives freedom of religion to every citizen of the country; it also at the same time gives equal opportunities to the small communities of the country to safeguard their own culture and religion.
As such the state government should look into the alarming situation and bring out an anti-conversion law in the state.
He further pointed out that during the time of Meetei religion revivalism in the state, a number of churches have been set up in the plains of Meetei dominated area.
This is a clear case that every possible mean are being deployed by the Christian followers to convert all the non-Christians of the valley into Christians.
To protect and preserve the faiths and beliefs of the minority communities, Anti Conversion Law has already been passed in the states of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Arunachal Pradesh.
Likewise, considering the number of foreign missionaries flocking into the state of late, the state government also needs to pass an Anti Conversion Law in Manipur to save the indigenous religions of the state, he observed.
He also appealed to all the NGOs and CSOs of the state to check the movement of Christian missionaries and prohibit them from distributing booklets, pamphlets and other Christian related documents which tempt people to convert them.