Mizoram BJP sets up missionary cell to shed 'Hindutva' tag

AIZAWL: Seeking to shake off the image of a "pro-Hindu party", BJP on Wednesday set up a missionary cell in Christian-majority Mizoram, the only state in the Northeast where it is not part of the government.
"We want to allay fears that BJP is pro-Hindu and anti-Christian," said J V Hluna, president of BJP's Mizoram unit, while inaugurating the cell at the party's state headquarters.
The cell will run a 24x7 helpline for Mizo missionaries. "It has been established to help any Christian Mizo missionary in need of help through BJP functionaries across country," Hluna said.
He clarified that BJP being "a secular party", the objective of the missionary cell was not to propagate Christianity anywhere.
Mizoram remains the lone outlier in the otherwise saffron Northeast map. BJP is not part of the government here despite the Mizo National Front, an NDA ally, being in power.
The only constituency BJP won in the 2018 assembly election, its first in the state's history, was the Chakma-majority Tuichawng seat. Although the party has tempered its Hindutva in its quest for acceptability, Mizoram appears to have walled itself from the BJP wave.
The missionary cell will now create a database of the 5,000-odd Christian missionaries in the state, with their names, addresses, phone numbers and email IDs.
The plan has already triggered a debate about the potential security implications of the process.
BJP dismissed these concerns, with missionary cell head Lalhriatrenga Chhangte denying that the party had any motive other than the stated one. "There was some misunderstanding about data on missionaries, some apprehension that it could fall into the hands of RSS. But contact details of missionaries will be on the database only with their consent...The sole purpose of this cell is to help those in need."
He added, "BJP's Mizoram unit will always oppose RSS or any other organisation that violates the freedom of religion and acts against Christian missionaries."