GUWAHATI
The United Christian Forum of North East India (UCFNEI) has expressed anguish over the demolition of three church buildings in Manipur and the alleged manhandling of two church elders from Meghalaya who attended post-Easter celebrations in Bihar’s Patna.
On April 11, the Manipur authorities razed three church buildings – one every of Catholic, Baptist and Lutheran – within the Imphal East district following the holiday of a keep order by the High Court of Manipur.
Manipur officers mentioned the church buildings had been demolished as that they had been constructed on authorities land and with none permission from the district administration.
“The church leaders have expressed their deep pain and sorrow at the demolition of the three churches in Manipur immediately after Easter… Under these circumstances, we appeal to all the faithful to continue to pray for peace and harmony while standing united,” UCFNEI spokesperson Allen Brooks mentioned in an announcement on April 14.
Father Francis Vialo, a Catholic priest, mentioned his diocese in Imphal had purchased the land for the demolished Holy Spirit Church about 20 years in the past from an individual who, it transpired later, had bought the plot fraudulently with solid paperwork.
The UCFNEI condemned the alleged hostility confronted by two Shillong-based Presbyterian Church elders, R. G. Laloo and T. Nongkhlaw, in Bihar’s capital Patna quickly after Easter. The duo had visited Patna on the invitation of a neighborhood church.
Meghalaya police officers mentioned their Bihar counterparts escorted the 2 church elders safely to the airport in Patna from the place they returned residence.
