Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday distanced himself from a purportedly official letter seeking information from all superintendents of police in the State on religious conversion and the number of churches established in their respective districts in the past one year.
He insisted the Assam government has not issued any instruction for such an exercise that “might hurt the sentiments of a particular religious community”.
The Assam police’s Special Branch is said to have issued the letter on December 16 asking the SPs to submit their report on Christian activities along with suggestions on “counter measures” by December 22.
“I have asked the Director General of Police (DGP) to conduct an investigation after receiving a copy of the letter on Friday,” Mr. Sarma told journalists in eastern Assam.
“I think we should not seek information like how many churches are there in Assam. We should avoid these things in order to not hurt the sentiments of a particular religious community,” he said.
Mr. Sarma said he has asked the DGP to find out in what context the letter was issued and take corrective measures.
“I completely disassociate myself from the unwarranted letter. It was never discussed in any government forum. If at all the government wants to issue such a letter, it should go from the Home Department or the DGP,” he said.
Pointing out that Assam does not have a law to regulate conversion, the Chief Minister said the State government does not want any survey on any religious institution.
The Assam Christian Forum said it was pained by the ‘circular’ that sent a wrong narrative to society.
“The Christian community has contributed immensely to the Assamese society. We have got thousands of schools in Assam and elsewhere in the northeast. We are at the forefront of nation-building,” Allen Brook, the forum’s spokesperson said.
