Dimapur, Feb. 22 -- An apex church organisation of Nagaland flayed Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for calling the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024, approved by the Assam cabinet, an "important legislation" as one of the most insensitive acts of religious bigotry.

"Unfortunately, such a statement is uttered by a respectable personality who is looked up to pull the region together on all fronts," the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) in a statement, issued by its general secretary Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho, said on Thursday.

Sarma told journalists recently that the Assam Cabinet passed a resolution endorsing a bill to ban magical healing practices with the explicit goal of curbing evangelism.

The NBCC sa...