Meghalaya: Hynniewtrep Youth Council demands security for church leaders

Days after two Shillong church leaders were reportedly threatened while on a religious tour in Bihar's capital Patna, the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) has urged that the Union Home Ministry protect the safety and security of religious groups across the nation. 

The HYC has called the Bihar event "unacceptable," and has encouraged the Meghalaya government to pursue the issue with Bihar to ensure that the miscreants involved are prosecuted.

"The Indian Constitution allows any religious leader to travel for religious activities." "We have religious harmony in our state, and we hope that the same spirit of secularism is accepted in other parts of the country," HYC president Robertjune Kharjahrin told journalists on April 13.

Also Read: Church leaders from Meghalaya ‘manhandled’ in Bihar's Patna

Furthermore, the HYC has urged state residents not to react impulsively without first hearing the entire story. "Sometimes, when incidents like these occur, we tend to react quickly without knowing the full story and, as a result, exaggerate and blow it out of proportion," he continued.

Meghalaya church leaders were allegedly manhandled by some unidentified miscreants in Bihar, said Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on April 11.

Prestone informed that the church leaders are safe and are returning home.

''There is nothing to worry about as everything is fine. The matter has been resolved and the church leaders are safe and coming back to Shillong,'' he said while speaking to reporters.

Upon receiving the information of the same, the Deputy Chief Minister called up the state Director General of Police (DGP) LR Bishnoi following which machinery promptly got in touch with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

While briefing media over the same, Tynsong said that the Pastor and the church senior had gone to their mission field office in the outskirts of Patna where some local youths engaged in a heated argument with the church leader