Probe why such letter was issued, take corrective measures: Assam CM to DGP over Church survey
The Assam Police Special Branch sent a letter to district administrations asking for information on the number of churches, religious conversions, and any individuals involved in forced conversions. The chief minister was responding to that letter.
FollowDistancing himself from an Assam Police directive asking districts to carry out a survey on churches, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has asked the DGP to inquire why such a letter was issued and immediately take “corrective measures”.
Sarma said on Saturday that the Assam government has no plans to conduct any research on places of worship like churches.
The Assam Police Special Branch sent a letter to district administrations asking for information on the number of churches, religious conversions, and any individuals involved in forced conversions. The chief minister was responding to that letter.
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"I believe it is inappropriate to inquire about things like the number of churches in Assam. This could offend a specific religious group's sensibilities. This sort of behaviour should be avoided," the chief minister, who is also in charge of housing, remarked.
"I absolutely distance myself from the letter because it was never brought up in any official setting. The letter is completely unjustified, and as Assamese citizens, we desire to coexist peacefully with all groups," added Sarma.
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The chief minister stated he was ignorant of the scenario in which a police official with the rank of superintendent of police had released the "controversial" letter, despite the fact that such a letter (if the government wants to send one at all) is distributed by the DGP or the home department.
"Since the government doesn't want to hurt any community's religious sensibilities, I have already requested that the DGP conduct an investigation and take appropriate action. Let me look into the history and see why such a letter was sent," he stated.
He emphasised that there was a difference between forced conversion and other conversion attempts, adding that Assam would not be subject to a police raid because there is currently no legislation governing conversion there.
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(WITH PTI INPUTS)
