GUWAHATI: A Meghalaya minister’s statement that the state government will consecrate the Captain Williamson Sangma State University on January 13 by following Christian rituals has has faced opposition from the Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), an NGO.The state’s Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma has recently proposed that Meghalaya’s first state university, named after its first chief minister Captain Williamson Sangma, be consecrated by following Christian rituals. Mentioning the inauguration of the new parliament building last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sangma argued, “Ours is a Christian state. We want to consecrate the first state university with a massive prayer meet. If Parliament can be blessed with Hindu rituals, why not Christian rituals in a Christian state?” Opposing the minister’s proposal, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR) said that the Constitution directs the state and its institutions to maintain distance from religious groups . “Meghalaya may be a state where (a) majority of its population practises various forms of Christianity but that in itself does not make it a Christian state. Second, state and its institutions in India as per our Constitution are secular bodies that keep equidistance from various religious groups. Mr Rakkam Sangma’s statement goes against the Constitutional values of secularism,” the NGO said in a statement.
Source link
