Angami Baptist Church Council (ABCC) at its council meeting on February 27, 2024 strongly denounced the motive behind the ‘Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill 2024’ which was recently introduced in the Assam Assembly.
In a statement, ABCC executive director Rev. Dr. Rachülie Vihienuo asserted that the Bill aims at ‘eliminating non-scientific healing practices’ and seeks to criminalize ‘magical healing’.
Taking exception to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’ statement that the bill would be an important milestone to curb evangelism in Assam, the ABCC said it was “deeply disturbed” by such blatant religious bigotry from a leading figure of the North East whose leadership and influence has far reaching effect in the region he represents and beyond.
The Church said that Assam chief minister’s statement was “self-contradictory, misleading, discriminatory and has serious communal overtones”, adding it plainly reflected the motive of the bill.
ABCC asserted that the bill was “nothing less than an attempt to target Christians” whose long historical wholistic endeavour of serving humanity and upliftment of the poor, the marginalized and the downtrodden was an indisputable fact.
ABCC reminded that Christian healing ministry involves both scientific as well as divine practices (through prayer)…but has nothing to do with ‘magical healing’. “What is more misleading is to equate ‘magical healing’ with proselytization,” ABCC said. The council also said that Christians pray to God for healing in response to human suffering and pain; not to proselytize.
Further, ABCC asserted that such discriminatory statements cannot bring about ‘religious status quo’ and achieve ‘proper balance’, rather it would simply alienate people from each other and further polarize communities.
The Council prayed that the sister-states of the North East exemplify “what it means to live in peaceful co-existence” and show the way in a nation marred by division and intolerance.