Meghalaya’s provincial government wants to open casinos to boost tourism but this has upset the majority Christians
Indian tourists pose beside a sign in the village of Mawlynnong in the northeastern state of Meghalaya on Nov. 8, 2015. (Photo: AFP)
Christians have been at the forefront of opposing the promotion of gambling in the guise of providing a boost to tourism in the state of Meghalaya in northeast India.
The provincial government led by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who is himself a Christian, passed a new law in 2021 diluting many stringent provisions in the five-decade-old Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970.
The Meghalaya Regulation of Gambling Act 2021 was aimed at introducing legalized gambling activities including casinos among other things to give a new lease of life to the tourism industry in the state, but the Sangma government has met with fierce opposition from different tribal groups in the state including Church groups.
Christian leaders say the new law will promote crime, drugs and other immoralities in the tribal Christian-dominated hill state.
Christians make up more than 75 percent of some three million people in the state.
“We want the government to scrap the new law with immediate effect as it will not do any good to anyone,” said Pastor Edwin H Kharkongor, one of the leading members of the powerful Presbyterian Church in the state.
Kharkongor along with Father Richard M Majaw, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Shillong, recently called on the chief minister and apprised him of their growing concerns.
“Legalizing gambling has the potential to destroy peace and harmony within families and society,” Archbishop Victor Lyngdoh told UCA News on Oct. 4.
The casino culture, according to the prelate is a serious concern for the Church and other people in the state and therefore the people of the state want the new law to be abolished.
“The immediate outcome of such an activity is loss of self-esteem among young people involved in it, flesh trade, drug abuse and a number of other social problems,” Pastor Kharkongor added.
Father Majaw told UCA News that they had a cordial meeting with the CM who listened to the demands and promised to keep the law in abeyance.
“But he did not give any commitment on abolishing it,” Father Majaw added.
The Christian leaders said the Church was not against the government promoting tourism, but it should be done in the right manner and no harm should come to the budding generations of the state.
“We don’t want our youth to indulge in gambling or any such activities as it will damage their future,” Father Majaw said.
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