From mid-June pictures of teachings from the Church installed throughout the Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh went viral on social media. A social activist group Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), actively bringing the hard truth to the fore about conversion, shared the pictures.
As per the details available, Longding district has a history of Naga insurgency in the past and has been witnessing the turmoil at present. The district is referred to as the TCL region or Tirap, Changlang and Longding region with borders sharing the states of Assam and Nagaland. The region on the one hand shares borders with Nagaland and is also connected to the borders of Myanmar.
One of the main objectives of Naga Insurgencies in the region had remained the establishment of a Theocratic Christian State in south-east Asia. The activists in the region had reportedly received logistical support from Christian Western powers and also from the unlikely communist Neighbour, the Republic of China.
Amidst the rising unrest in the region, the one who has benefitted is the Church. Christianity had enjoyed a free run in the TCL region and was perhaps one of the first areas to have almost wiped off the indigenous faiths.
Notably, due to the resurgence of the Rangfra moment, the TCL region has seen a new emergence of the indigenous faith moment and has become a challenger to the church hegemony.
With losing control the Church has started opting for different measures to contain the situation. From using armed insurgent groups throughout the 90s to using political administrative influence, the church was bolstered by access to unlimited foreign funds at their disposal. But, after the recent crackdown on the inflow of foreign funds, the Church too is feeling the hit of these crackdowns and is exploring newer avenues. Subsequently, the church has devised a strategy to actively utilise its Christian officers and bureaucrats with the administrative setup to further their agendas.
The region in the recent past has witnessed the construction of Churches and rampant conversion. In June 2023, LRO pointed raised an issue on the installations of the Church lessons on national highways.
On June 17, LRO shared details about the installation of the Gospel from the bible. They had information that a Christian officer, PWD Longding Executive Engineer, Er Panpong Tangha was erecting gospel-inspired Christian promotional signboards about Jesus all across Longding. The PWD officer misappropriated public money and misused it to spread evangelical propaganda within its jurisdiction.
LRO also had screenshots of the WhatsApp status updates uploaded by another Christian government employee who confirmed the entire exercise to be the handiwork of the Longding PWD executive engineer. The name of the person who uploaded this status is Mr Atai Boham as seen in the above screenshot.
On June 24, LRO registered a written complaint with the DC of Longding along with the Chief Secretary of the Arunachal government as it violated the secular credentials of the state government by utilising public funds under its aegis to promote a particular Christian religion and ignoring indigenous faiths that are protected by various laws, including the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act 1978.
On July 3, LRO served a nine-pointer Legal Notice to the office of the DC Longding for failing to take action against its officer promoting Christianity misusing public funds through renowned Supreme Court Advocate Shri Veer Vikrant Singh.
On July 4, LRO wrote from their official Twitter handle, “Longding DC @DC_LongdingAP should clarify whether Arunachal has Christianity as an official religion. Has PWD under Beni Lego accepted Church Laws over the Constitution of India? We will take legal action against DC for imposing #Church dogmas on indigenous faith people @PemaKhanduBJP”
To the post, DC Arunachal Pradesh replied, “This structure has been installed without the knowledge of the District Administration. It was bought to the notice of the DA last evening. Necessary action for its removal (today) have been initiated and action against perpetrators will be taken as per the laws.”
On July 5, the DC Longding issues show cause notice to the PWD Executive engineer based on the notice issued by LRO with an ultimatum of three working days. As far as insider information received the office of the CS also initiated a departmental enquiry against the responsible engineer.
On June 6, a reply to this notice was sent by the responsible engineer through his lawyer, where the engineer admitted having erected eight signboards across Longding and also that he is a Christian, thus proving LROs allegations.
Furthermore, in the said reply through his lawyer, the responsible executive engineer, PWD Longding, informed LRO that, the signboards were removed and deposited at the Longding police station followed by a request to withdraw the legal notice pressed by LRO.
With LROs intervention the installed posters and hoardings were removed by the administration.
