EGN NEWS DESK
Christians have criticised a controversial invoice within the Indian state of Assam that bans prayers for therapeutic.
The Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024, threatens individuals who conduct so-called “magical therapeutic” with harsh fines and even imprisonment, Crux reviews.
It makes “inhuman, evil, or magical therapeutic practices” unlawful and offenders withstand 5 years in jail or a most wonderful of 100,000 rupees (round £950).
According to Crux, the Chief Minister of Assam stated the invoice was “an essential milestone” in efforts to “curb evangelism in Assam”.
The invoice was handed on February 26 and can should be ratified by India’s president Droupadi Murmu earlier than it comes into drive.
Local Christians worry that it’s a precursor to the introduction of anti-conversion legal guidelines which were utilized in different states to crackdown on Christians.
John Moolachira of Guwahati Archdiocese and president of the Assam Christian Forum shared his disbelief concerning the invoice in feedback to India’s The Print.
“We do not merely go round therapeutic — it’s a part of our prayer. We have therapeutic prayers like each different faith — when sick individuals come, we pray for them — individually, or by making them stand collectively in a bunch. We do not do magic to heal individuals. Why is the federal government making it unlawful and punishable is what we do not perceive,” he stated.
In a press release, The Assam Christian Forum stated: “Healing, in our context, isn’t synonymous with proselytization. It is a compassionate response to human struggling, irrespective of spiritual affiliations.”
A locally-based companion of the Christian charity Open Doors stated the invoice places mission employees and the Christian group in danger.
“It offers the spiritual teams a chance to generate false allegations towards Christians and their establishments. The invoice particularly targets the Christian group in Assam,” she stated.
She expressed fears that violence towards Christians in close by Manipur will spill over into Assam.
“Please pray for the northeastern states in India, they had been as soon as a haven for Christians. They at the moment are endangered with fixed information of violence,” she stated.
