Ranchi, Nov 15: Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said that the people of the state were humble, honest and poor but their religion was not up for sale.
Addressing the state formation day function organised at the Morabadi Grounds here he said that his government believes in giving equal opportunity for the all the religions in the state and the anti-conversion law was part of this which would ensure that henceforth no one would be able to force or lure any person for religious conversions. “We are poor but our religion is not for sale,” Mr Das said.
The Chief Minister once again used the occasion to call on those who had diverted from the main stream of life not to fall prey of the Maoists and surrender or else the rule of law would severely deal with them. He said that now only politics of development would be done in the state. Mr Das said that all took votes in the name of the poor but later they felt them in the hands of the God.
The Chief Minister said that with the blessings of the people and God he had been given the opportunity to serve the people and assured them that he would be walking four steps if the people came together for a single step. He said that despite the challenges his government was working to take the state forward on the path of development. On the occasion he also administered an oath to the people that they would not fall prey to casteism, communalism and would work for the development of the state.
The Chief Minister said that on the occasion of 17th formation day of the state it was also important to remember those who fought for a separate state of Jharkhand. He said that before Independence people had demanded for creation of separate state of Jharkhand but no one paid attention towards that as for every one Jharkhand was ‘golden egg laying bird’ which was being exploited by all but no one wanted to give freedom. He said that it was former Prime Minister Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee who created a separate state of Jharkhand for which the people would be always grateful to him.