Itanagar

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said on Saturday that the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act (APFRA), 1978 would be implemented as the Gauhati High Court (Itanagar Bench) has ordered the state government to frame the rules to implement the law.

Addressing the inaugural session of the Inter-Tribe Festival-2025 in Itanagar, the Chief Minister said that APFRA is not in favour or against any particular religion.

He urged the youths and members of the Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) to take upon the issue to clear the confusion on APFRA.

“We are a secular country. A Buddhist can become a Hindu if he or she wants to. Any Hindu can become an Indigenous Faith believer. Likewise, any Indigenous Faith believer can become a Christian or Hindu. It’s a personal choice and this Act is not going to take away this freedom,” the Chief Minister said. Khandu said that the rules of the APFRA have to be framed because it is an order from the High Court.

However, the Rules will be framed only after consultation with each of the religious communities residing and practising in Arunachal Pradesh, he added.

Hailing Arunachal’s unity in diversity and peaceful coexistence of the tribes, Khandu urged the educated youths to be aware of the uneducated and the society at large, when ‘rumours’ or ‘misinterpretations’ are fanned by vested few.

The Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF), an apex body of Christians in Arunachal Pradesh, has been agitating against the implementation of the APFRA. Thousands of people under the banner of the ACF held a peaceful dharna near Itanagar on March 6 in protest against the implementation of the APFRA, claiming that the law, when implemented, would harm Christians in the state and curtail their freedom of religion.

ACF on February 17 observed an eight-hour-long hunger strike at NIIS Nyokum Ground in Borum in Naharlagun Circle to protest the implementation of the Act.

ACF president Tarh Miri said that over two lakh Christians, cutting across denominations gathered at Borum near Arunachal Pradesh’s capital Itanagar on March 6.

Amid the ongoing agitation against APFRA, 1978, top leaders of the ACF led by Miri on February 21 held its first meeting with the state’s Home Minister Mama Natung which, however, remained inconclusive.

After the crucial meeting, the ACF president said that the Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister had assured that the government would continue to discuss their issues and would hold the next round of talks soon.

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“The Home Minister had said that the government, following the Gauhati High Court order, has to frame the rules to implement the APFRA, 1978. However, he said that the state government would continue to discuss the issue with ACF,” Miri had told IANS.

As per the 2011 census, the Christian population in Arunachal Pradesh is 4.19 lakh (30.26 per cent) of the total population of the state's 13.84 lakh.