Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) and Nagaland Indigenous People’s Forum (NIPF) have separately expressed opposition to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a nationwide cleanliness programme on Sunday, October 1.
NPCC described the call for cleanliness drive on Sunday as “yet another chapter in the never-ending saga of intolerance and persecution against the minorities in India”. Congress reminded that Christians considered Sunday as a day of rest and worship, and that it was common sense to deduce any attempt to disturb the sanctity of the day was clearly not going to sit well with the Christians in the country.
Under more sensible times, NPCC said it would have been tempted to brush aside this affront as a mere case of insensitivity, or one of momentary lapse in judgement from the PM, but sadly it was otherwise. Acknowledging NDPP-BJP government’s move of rescheduling the event in Nagaland, NPCC said it could not help but rue at the “complete lack of outrage” from the former’s end.
As a Christian-majority state, the NPCC pointed out that the state government had the moral right and should have taken the lead in protesting against the Central government’s move.
NPCC demanded that Modi should tender an apology to the Christian community and ensure that this divisive endeavour was immediately called off, or at least rescheduled.
NIPF: Nagaland Indigenous People’s Forum (NIPF) urged the Prime Minister to either advance or postpone the “one hour shramdan for swachhata” for the convenience of all citizens in the country. It stated that dates or days that were sacred to any religious group should be avoided for any future national programme.
NIPF claimed the call for cleanliness drive on a Sunday had hurt the sentiment of the people of Nagaland in particular and the Christian community of the nation in general.
The forum pointed out that India was a secular nation where religious freedom was granted to all citizens by the constitution. However, the forum alleged that the present government at the Centre had on many occasions tried to infringe the sacred days of the Christians such as the Good Friday and Christmas by trying to impose a new event on such days. “This attitude of the Narendra Modi-led government was totally uncalled for in a democratic and secular nation,” the forum added.