Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 19 Aug: The Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF) took out a peaceful rally from Akashdeep to IG Park here on Friday to register its protest over the Tawang church issue.
Thousands of Christians thronged the streets to show their disapproval of the state government’s decision to not allow construction of the revival church in Tawang.
A three-member committee headed by Sports Minister Mama Natung had recommended shifting the church’s location, claiming that the land has been acquired by the government.
Addressing the mammoth gathering, ACF secretary-general Tarh Miri compared the situation with “the Kala Pani jail.”
“Pema Khandu sir, why are you punishing the Christians of Tawang with the severity level of Kala Pani?” he sought to know.
ACF president Toko Teki alleged that “the report submitted by the three-member committee is one-sided,” and said that the government should make the whole report public.
“Only two pages of the report were made public. They did not show how the Christian communities felt about the issue,” he said.
He also said that the report quoted the Supreme Court without any merit. “As claimed in the report, the church is not built in public premises,” he said.
Teki, however, said that it is up to the chief minister to resolve the issue. “Whatever the report is, if CM wants, he can resolve the issue,” he added.
The three-member committee, which included MLAs Nyamar Karbak and Nyato Dukom as members, submitted its report to Chief Minister Pema Khandu on 23 May.
