Shillong, Nov 3: A social media post by VPP’s Shillong Lok Sabha bypoll candidate Prof Batskhem Myrboh questioning the government’s support to a gospel concern has created a controversy.
The post reopened a sensitive debate on what secularism means in Meghalaya.
“It is wrong for the state to organise a religious function for one particular group. If it holds for one, it has to hold for every other group,” he wrote in the post.
“India, including Meghalaya, is supposed to be secular,” he added and concluded saying, “Religion is best left to individuals and private parties.”
Terming the government’s support to a gospel concert “wrong” has hurt many as the state has over 70 per cent Christian population for whom gospel music is as much culture as it is faith.
Questioning the so-called defence of secularism in the post, a concerned citizen criticised the VPP leader saying, “Secularism in India has never meant the State must keep a distance from all religions. It has meant equal respect for all religions, not hostility to any. If the State can support tourism festivals, cultural shows and community celebrations that carry religious undertones, why should a gospel concert alone be treated as a violation?”
He said the VPP has built its politics on protecting indigenous identity, culture and faith. Its supporters would find it difficult to explain why a gospel concert, which for thousands in Meghalaya is an expression of that very identity, should be pushed out of public support.
“There is also a question of consistency. If the logic is that the State must hold a function for every group, if it holds one for one group, does the VPP intend to apply the same test to every State-supported festival, celebration and cultural event? Or does the test apply only when the event is Christian in character?”
“In a bye-election where every statement is weighed for votes, the VPP candidate’s stand risks being read not as a defence of the Constitution, but as a distancing from the religious and cultural life of the very people he seeks to represent,” another concerned citizen stated.
“If religion is truly best left to individuals and private parties, as Myrboh says, then the VPP must also explain where it draws the line, and whether that line will be drawn equally for all faiths, all festivals and all communities in Meghalaya.”
Other concerned citizens also argued that support to a gospel concert does not make Meghalaya less secular, just as support for other community festivals does not make it a theocratic State.
