New Delhi, March 18 The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Wednesday strongly criticised the Nagaland Baptist Church Council, accusing it of attempting to create animosity between different sections of society by portraying the VHP and the RSS as organisations that "promote and incite violence".
VHP president Alok Kumar asserted that both the RSS and the VHP are patriotic and law-abiding organisations that work towards uniting the Hindu society for positive social service missions, particularly towards the Scheduled Castes (SCs), the Scheduled Tribes (STs), and other needy segments of society.
"We have seen a statement issued by the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) condemning an alleged raid by the Assam Rifles on the Samziuram Baptist Church in Nagaland. The statement completely misrepresents the situation, accusing the RSS and VHP of 'promoting and inciting violence and justifying such actions'," Kumar said in a statement.
Interestingly, the statement does not assign any role to the RSS or the VHP in the alleged incident, nor does it suggest that any of them justified the incident, he added.
The VHP chief alleged that the NBCC statement appears to be a "malicious and dishonest" attempt to escalate a routine security operation into a religious and ideological controversy.
He claimed that the references to the RSS and the VHP are unrelated to the event and were likely inserted to frame the narrative "politically or communally".
"The VHP condemns the allegations made by the NBCC against the RSS and the VHP, which appear to be part of an attempt to create animosity between different sections of Bharatiya society," Kumar said.
"We have been informed that the local pastor and village authority have officially certified that no harassment or damage was caused by the 'Assam Rifles' during the operation," he added.
In a recent statement, the NBCC reportedly alleged a late-night raid by Assam Rifles on the Samziuram Baptist Church and the pastor's residence in Peren District of Nagaland on March 9, expressing concern over the incident.
Condemning the raid as "unthinkable and unacceptable", it reportedly said in a statement, "The Churches and Associations under the NBCC do not function like the RSS and VHP that promote and incite violence and justify such actions."