AIZAWL, March 31 - It�s not only Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), but �Saffron threat� as a whole that has united political rivals in Mizoram to take on the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
To clear doubts on the people�s minds, ZPM leader K Sapdanga told a press conference on Saturday that the basic reason behind two rivals forging an alliance is to prevent the anti-Christian BJP and its allies from forming the next government at the Centre. �So far as State politics is concerned, ZPM and Congress still have different ideologies, programmes and policies. But, when it comes to national politics, we share the same ideology and common enemy. That is the basic idea behind our alliance,� he said.
Sapdanga alleged that the minorities in India are in threat under the BJP rule. �There has been an attempt to amend the Constitution to marginalise the Christians and other religious minorities. The ultimate goal is to force the people of India to follow Hinduism and get rid of all religions other than Hinduism. CAB and Uniform Civil Code are some of the instruments to achieve that goal,� he said.
�After their campaign to persuade the people into accepting their ideology has failed, the BJP has now made it crystal clear that if it is re-elected to the Parliament, it would pass such laws,� he said.
�If we want to continue to practice our culture and religion peacefully, there is only one way: to prevent the BJP from forming the next government,� Sapdanga said.
�In such a situation, there was a strong need for Mizo people who follow one religion, Christianity, to have one common candidate who would not support the BJP-led NDA,� Sapdanga said.
Sapdanga further accused the MNF of refusing to support a non-NDA candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Mizoram.
�The MNF leaders were clearly aware of the threats against Christians and other religious minorities (posed by the BJP). However, they were obliged to support the NDA as a quid pro quo for the support they had received from the BJP during the last Assembly elections,� he said.
One of the objectives of BJP, Sapdanga said, is to remove �Secularism� from the Constitution of India. �As they know that they could not eliminate Christianity from the country only through persecution and stopping foreign funding (to Christian organisations in India), they opted for Constitutional amendment to remove the word �Secularism� from the Preamble,� he said.
�Despite being aware of all this, the MNF is supporting the NDA as they have to repay a debt,� he alleged.
Congress-ZPM combine�s candidate Lalnghinglova Hmar, being a Christian preacher among the youths, was not oblivious to the fact that this year�s elections to the Lok Sabha would be a holy war between India�s dominant religion and smaller faiths.
�This was why he accepted our offer as a challenge. We must all remember that when we vote for Lalnghinglova Hmar, we participate in a holy war against enemies,� Sapdanga appealed.
