The Assam Christian Forum (ACF) on Saturday appealed to the people to vote for candidates who would work for an inclusive and secular society and uphold the Constitution in letter and spirit.

The forum, which represents all denominations of the Church in Assam, warned against the victimisation of people “by the promulgation” of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

This is the first time in recent memory that the forum has issued a pre-election appeal with references to an inclusive society and raging issues of the day.

Ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the forum had confined itself to conducting awareness programmes among voters for free and fair elections and calling for development and jobs for the community.

On Saturday, forum spokesperson Allen Brooks told The Telegraph: “We have spoken about an inclusive society because of increased intimidation of the minority community.

For example, the arrest of Father Stan Swamy, connecting him to the Bhima Koregaon case along with other intellectuals.

“Then, there is the CAA issue. Religion has nothing to do with citizenship and that is why we don’t want its implementation. During the 2019 anti-CAA protests in Assam, five innocent youths died in a police crackdown but till date we don’t know the status of the probe. We also are against privatisation. The government should ensure that the economy is not surrendered to corporate houses.”

In a statement, the forum said: “The Assam Christian Forum stands for the sanctity of the Indian Constitution both in letter and spirit. The sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic character of the Constitution should be upheld and implemented. The practice of democracy — government of the people, for the people, by the people — in its true essence should be reflected in every strata of the society.

“Secularism must be further nurtured and strengthened: people of different faiths, ideologies, cultures and races should have the joy of living with dignity and freedom in the state. This implies that the freedom of religion should be facilitated and ensured; the worship and worship places, religious practices and services of the minority groups, and the autonomy of their institutions should be respected and protected as enshrined in the Constitution. Persons from minority communities should be given representation at all levels of governance and administration.”

The forum added: “The right to land, livelihood and life of all the people of the state has to be respected, protected and developed. Just wages should be given to all labourers, particularly tea garden workers. Laws should be so framed that they do not endanger the land, livelihood and income of tribal people.

“Nobody should be unjustly victimised by the promulgation of the CAA. Women and children should be given all encouragement to live fuller lives.… The Environment Impact Assessment Act should not be implemented as it is detrimental to the homeland, identity and dignity of our people and to our mountains, plains, forests, rivers and air. Let there be free and fair elections! Let us all live in love, freedom and dignity!”

Christians make up about 3.74 per cent of Assam’s 3.1 crore-plus population, according to the 2011 census. The Church’s influence extends beyond the community because of its work in education and health care.

The forum has a reach among the Bodos, Karbis and Garos and a section of the tea tribes who play a decisive role in about 42 of the 126 Assembly seats.

The clear statement from Assam comes at a time at least one Church denomination in Kerala has suggested that the community views no one as an untouchable.

“We have to accept all ideologies since India is a diverse country,” Bishop Joseph Mar Gregorios, the Metropolitan trustee of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, recently said in Kerala. The denomination is locked in a century-old property dispute with another denomination, and hints of supporting the BJP have been dropped.

“We have discussed the matter with the BJP-led Union government and we are looking for people who can deliver justice to us,” the bishop had said, referring to a meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on the dispute.