Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Pema Khandu, has hinted towards lifting the 40 year old anti-conversion law in the state. CM Pema Khandu started his political career from the Congress Party and had in 2016 joined the Bharatiya Janata Party following a rift with the Congress. He became the CM in 2016 following which he left the Congress to join Peoples Party of Arunachal followed by him joining the BJP in December 2016. Khandu gave this statement while attending a function organised by the Arunachal Pradesh Catholic Association at a church in Banderdewa. Banderdewa is considered to be the gateway to Itanagar, the state capital. The function, Prem Milan, was organised in memory of Prem Bhai, a missionary from Sri Lanka. Prem had zealously worked in Arunachal Pradesh to lure and convert people to Christianity. He had countless times been arrested and had many a times gotten away by dodging the police with disguises, he was released countless times owing to the pressure from Christian groups in the state. Arunachal Pradesh CM attending an event held in the memory of a person who indulged in illegal activities as per the law is shameful in itself.
Khandu made the event seem uglier than it was by passing such senseless comments. He said, “The anti-conversion law could undermine secularism and is probably targeted towards Christians,”. Khandu went on to add that he wanted the law to be repealed as it “could be misused by irresponsible officials.” He assured that the bill to abrogate the anti-conversion law would be brought before the next Assembly session of the state. These words are hurtful to say the least coming from a now BJP CM, but no wonder that Khandu had no remorse considering his previous alliances with the Congress. This bill, if it sees the light of the day, would be detrimental to the already pitiable condition of Hindus and Donyi-Polo and other indigenous faiths in the state.
The state has already seen a sharp increase in the number of converts to Christianity, in the census of 1951 there were no Christians in the state, this scenario changed in the 2001 census when they became the third largest religious group behind Hindus (34.6%) and others which mostly had Donyi-Polo (30.7%). Christians accounted for 18.7% of the state population in the census of 2001 and they slowly became the dominant group in the 2011 census (30.26%) beating Hinduism (29.04%).
The worst effect of the Christian missionaries’ work has been felt on the indigenous tribes which have taken the most number of hits from the works of the Christian groups. The conversion brigade continues their job even when anti-conversion laws are in place in the state since 1978. Anytime one of them is caught they raise the hue and cry of attack on minorities and demand release of the missionary workers.
It is therefore surprising to see that Pema Khandu has given this statement despite being aware of the implications which might ensue if the anti-conversion law is lifted. The central leadership of BJP should intervene in this matter as quickly as possible and even replace Pema Khandu if it is necessary. His statement, “Any misuse of the law leading to torture of people could trigger large-scale violence in the State and could break Arunachal into pieces,” hints towards appeasement and vote bank politics which is not the BJP’s way of doing things. Khandu should be made to backtrack and apologise for his comments or he should be let go immediately. A wipe out of traditions and culture of the state at the cost of vote bank politics simply cannot go on anymore. BJP is not Congress, Mr. Khandu.
