Meghalaya BJP minister urges PM to ensure ‘safety’ of Karnataka’s Christians

PTI, Dec 5, 2021, 8:35 AM IST

Shillong: Meghalaya’s lone BJP minister Sanbor Shullai wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to ensure ”safety and security” of Christians living in Karnataka.

Shullai, the Northeastern state’s labour minister, sought the prime minister’s intervention with ”regards to a recent survey of the Christian community”.

He termed it ”unconstitutional” and said such an act would create distrust among the minority Christian community in Karnataka, besides being highly objectionable.

”I request your honourable office to kindly take cognizance of the issue raised by the Archbishop and also by other Christian Communities. Kindly ensure that the safety and security of Christians Community living in Karnataka and every state of India is protected,” he said in the letter.

”I would like to seek your kind intervention with regards to a recent survey of the Christian community citing it as data collection. Since India has a global secular image, such acts are definitely going to dent our image,” he added.

The senior BJP leader of Christian-majority Meghalaya said that even Archbishop of Bangalore Peter Machado objected to the survey.

”Any person who believes in any religion is by virtue of their birth or due to a belief or faith they tender upon any religion they feel compatible with,” Shullai said.

With two MLAs, BJP is a part of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government led by National People’s Party whose president Conrad K Sangma is the chief minister.