The coalition government, to which the Hindu nationalist BJP is a partner, had declared in a circular that Good Friday would be a normal "working day," but the move was withdrawn on Tuesday, March 27.

"We are happy that the government officials acted promptly and reversed the controversial order," a senior Christian leader based in state capital, Shillong, told World Watch Monitor today.

P.B.M. Basaiawmoit, a Presbyterian Church member and former vice-president of the National Council of Churches in India, said that he wrote a letter to key government officials as soon as he heard about the plan on Saturday, March 24.

The circular was issued by the BSNL, an Indian telecom corporation, and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, but only in Meghalaya, where Christians account for 75 per cent of the state's population of three million.

In his letter, Basaiawmoit said he had questioned why Christians were being denied the religious freedom guaranteed to them under the constitution, and asked whether the order was only "a fabricated one to create confusion and resentment."

Meanwhile, the leaders of a political party called Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) met Rajendra Kumar, BSNL general manager for Meghalaya, to seek "clarification" on the order.

"We object to any central government offices declaring Good Friday as a working day," KHNAM's leaders said at a news conference on March 26. "This decision was against the sentiments of the Christians and against the provisions of the constitution."

Meghalaya state witnessed similar protests around Good Friday 2017 after the BJP-led federal government chose Good Friday to launch 'Digital India Day'. But following protests, three Christian-majority states in the northeast, including Meghalaya, were exempted from its observation.

Similarly, the BJP-led government in Gujarat in western India, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was forced to retract its bid to make Good Friday a "working day" in 2016.

There was also a furor in 2015 when India's second-most populous state, Maharashtra, launched Good Governance Day and asked its employees to conduct training programs on Christmas Day. Both Good Friday and Christmas Day are national holidays in India.

"This episode shows that the BJP will do anything wherever they are in power," Basaiawmoit said. "We have to be on the alert."

"I cannot understand why national organizations should issue orders to offend a community in a particular state," he added. "This cannot be seen in isolation from the BJP becoming a part of the ruling coalition after the February election."

The recent local elections in Meghalaya led to a hung Assembly, with the ruling Congress Party winning 21 out of 60 seats and the BJP's major partner, NPP, winning 19. With the support of splinter parties, the BJP eventually put together 34 seats and so formed a government.

Meanwhile, church leaders in nearby Nagaland State, where more than 90 percent of the population is Christian and where there is also a new BJP-led government, have rejected the new government's proposal to sponsor free Holy Land pilgrimages for Christians, a promise the BJP had made ahead of elections.

Following up on its electoral promise, the People's Democratic Alliance (PDA) government, of which the BJP is a major partner, announced the introduction of a new program called 'Holy Land tours and pilgrimages'.

However, Nagaland's churches in a joint press statement on March 24 said such promises were "not in sync with the secular ethos of the country."

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

ICYMI: Iranian People March in DC in Support of Op Epic Fury and Trump; 'We Will Reclaim Our Country'

Trump's FDA Indicates Move Away from Testing on Dogs, Bunnies, Chimpanzees

Chicago Bulls Dump Player after His Criticism of Pride Month

Finally Confirmed: Michigan Synagogue Car Ramming Was 'Hezbollah-Inspired' Terror Attack

SURPRISE! Zohran Mamdani's New 'Free' Childcare Program is Going to Cost $60,000 Per Child

Courtroom Bombshell: ATF Can't Link Bullet That Killed Charlie Kirk to Suspect's Rifle

FBI: Over 6,200 Missing Children Located, More Than 300 Human Traffickers and 1,700 Child Predators Arrested over Past Year

SCOTUS Rules on Colorado's Ban on 'Conversion Therapy' to Help Gender Dysphoric Individuals

President Trump Shares Letter on Palm Sunday, from Franklin Graham Discussing Salvation

HSLDA Lawyer Warns This Bill Would Create a 'Surveillance State' for Homeschooling Families

Major Airports Return to Normal as TSA Workers Get Paid

GROTESQUE: Barack Obama's Orwellian Push for Virginia Redistricting Is Something to Behold

Not 'Leaderless': the 'No Kings' Protests Are Well-Funded by These Notorious Billionaires

Ilhan Omar's Connection to Genocide in Somaliland, and Fraud in the US; Will She Be Deported?

Prayer Alert: Nigerian Christians Massacred on Palm Sunday

Iran's Exiled Crown Prince Receives Standing Ovation at CPAC from Huge Iranian-American Audience [Watch Full Speech]

Campus Awakening Continues: Baptisms in Pickup Trucks, Physical Healings Reported in UniteUS College Revival at Pitt

Explosive Intel Report: Ukraine War Aid May Have Been Funneled to Biden Campaign, DNC

Indicted Democrat Rep. Found Guilty of More Than 2 Dozen Ethics Violations; Faces Possible Expulsion from Congress

Congress Requests Documents after Reports on California Hospice Fraud