Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday urged the Odisha administration to conduct a thorough investigation and take prompt action against those responsible for allegedly assaulting a pastor and “forcing him to eat cow dung and chant religious slogans” on January 4.
The FIR, based on the complaint of his wife, was registered on January 13.
Sangma raised the pastor assault issue in a post on X, stating: “The recent attack on Pastor Bipin Bihari Naik in Odisha, forcing him to eat cow dung and chant religious slogan is a grave violation of the constitutional rights guaranteed to every citizen of India.”
The post added: “The repeated attacks on Christians taint the diverse culture and religious fabric of our nation. Strongly condemn this incident and urge the concerned authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and take swift, decisive action against those responsible.”
Meghalaya is a Christian-majority state in the Northeast like Mizoram and Nagaland. Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh also have a significant Christian population.
The pastor assault case had triggered shock in the region, as had the vandalisation of Christmas preparations in a missionary school in Assam’s Nalbari district last month.
Former BJP leader from Nagaland and author, Mmhonlumo Kikon, reposted Sangma’s tweet. Kikon added on his post that no faith gives “license” to violence and India “must confront this growing culture of mob impunity”.
The pastor was allegedly assaulted, paraded in his village and forced to drink drain water in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district by a mob of around 15-20 persons for having “indulged” in religious conversion, according to media reports quoting his wife.
