162-yr-old church must shift to make room for vehicles parking

Guwahati, April 7 (UNI) A 162-year-old heritage Baptist Church at Panbazar here has been issued a notice by Asom government to vacate its premises to make space for a proposed multi-storeyed parking place.

In fact, the Church, along with the entire establishment of the Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India (CBCNEI) situated within the same compound, have been asked to shift as per a notice issued in mid-February by the Asom government's revenue department.

The notice that has virtually stirred the hornet's nest, stated the Kamrup(Metro) district administration and the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority(GMDA) have identified some vacant locations within the compound of the CBCNEI and have requested the Council to hand over the entire plot of land to the development authority for the proposed car parking lot.

However, the government authorities promised to arrange for an alternative site for the heritage establishment and bear the entire cost of shifting to a new site that is yet to be notified.

The unprecedented notice came as a shock to the CBCNEI and the entire Christian community in the state.

''This is an unprecedented insult to the sentiment of not only the Baptist or Christian community, but to all the people of Asom.

The heritage site has strong emotional bondage with the entire Assamese community,'' the pastor of the Guwahati Baptist Church said.

''The Baptist Mission had taken the lead in safeguarding and developing Assamese language in the early 19th Century when the then imperial British government put the fate of the language at stake by imposing Bengali as the official language in the state,'' he also said.

The American Baptist Mission, which came to Asom in 1836, is credited with the launch of the first Assamese newspaper 'Orunodoi' in January 1846.

The CBCNEI is now looking for intervention by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to prevent GMDA from forcing the Church to shift from its present heritage location.

UNI