Meghalaya-based Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) has petitioned the state Chief Secretary, health secretary, and the deputy commissioner to remove the Holy Bible from Shillong Civil Hospital.
This follows the demand of the Jaintia Students’ Union to remove a Ganesha idol from the entrance of National Institute of Technology (NIT).
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The LRO in its petition argued that the Bible should be removed in order to maintain the secular fabric of medical facilities.
“In continuation of the NIT Idol Precedent, we want the Meghalaya government to immediately remove every copy of the Holy Bible placed near patients’ beds of Shillong Civil Hospital,” the LRO stated.
“To place the Bible near a patient’s bed and forcing the non-Christian’s to read it for a medical cure is a gross violation of personal liberty,” the LRO further said.
“It also goes against the spirit of Article 18 of UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” LRO further added.
The organisation also requested the chief secretary to ban the visits of missionaries to the hospitals as they urge the non-Christians to read Bible for medical cure.
“We would approach the union health ministry if no action is taken to our complaint,” the LRO added.
