Yuletide passion, festivities mark Christmas in northeast

GUWAHATI - Hundreds and thousands of Christians in the northeast attended midnight masses and special morning prayers in churches across the region to pray for peace and the well being of the human race on Christmas day Friday.

With church bells echoing in the hills and dales of the region and throngs of people packing churches to join in festive prayers and songs in celebration of Jesus birth, the northeast was drowned in yuletide passion.

Christmas is the day when people tend to forgive and forget everything and simply rejoice. This is also the day when people pray for peace and prosperity of the state, the nation, and for the entire human race at large, Thomas Menamparampil, the Archbishop of Assam, told IANS.

Worshippers across the region lit candles, sang carols and organised festive feasts to celebrate Christmas.

We organised a small Christmas breakfast for the less fortunate, the homeless, distressed and lonely, for whom the festive season would otherwise be miserable, said Jessie Sangma, a housewife in Meghalaya capital Shillong.

Christmas across the seven northeastern states of about 40 million people has always been different from the rest of the country with people from all faiths joining the celebrations thereby strengthening the bond of mutual respect.

The states of Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Nagaland are predominantly Christian.

We always make it a point to visit our Christian friends on Christmas day. We also join them in the festivities, said Anirban Das, a college teacher in Assams main city of Guwahati.

Christmas was also celebrated with gusto at camps of separatist guerrilla groups in the region. The northeast is home to 30-odd rebel armies.

We prayed for peace. Our cadres had a hearty Christmas-eve dinner and they all were in a very jubilant mood, a senior leader of a Naga separatist group said.

Almost all the churches in the region held special peace prayers with the northeast ravaged by decades of violent insurgency.

People cannot rejoice unless there is peace. We hope our prayers are answered. We want an end to all forms of bloodshed and killings, said T. Lotha, a Baptist church leader in Nagalands capital Kohima.