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CV NEWS FEED // A civil war between two ethnic groups in Manipur, a small state in eastern India, has led to a collapse in the rule of law and the burning of hundreds of churches.
On May 3, thousands of people rallied in Manipur to protest a new plan to put the Meitei people, a predominantly Hindu group who make up over half of Manipur’s population, on India’s Scheduled Tribes list. The list designates indigenous groups that are experiencing social, educational, and economic suffering and are in need of government aid. The Meitei currently live in the more developed central Imphal Valley but are not allowed to live in the surrounding hill country, which covers 90% of the state. If the Meitei were designated as a Scheduled Tribe, they would have more access to land and better jobs as well as other resources – at the expense of the other ethnic groups in the area.
The Kuki people, a predominantly Christian hill tribe, is one ethnic group opposed to the government plan. The rally was coordinated by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur, a group affiliated with the Kukis.
The May 3 rally soon turned violent, although it is unknown exactly what triggered the fights. Following the outbreak, armed crowds began burning cars, houses, and churches belonging to the Kuki people. State authorities sent in the military to end the violence with orders to “shoot on sight.”
Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal wrote a letter to his fellow Indian bishops on June 17, describing the violence in Manipur and estimating that 249 Meitei churches were burned in the first 36 hours of the violence alone. The Meitei churches are not the only ones being targeted, however.
“Each of the more than 200 Kuki villages has seen one or more churches attacked,” Lumon said.
Although the Kukis are mainly Protestant, ten Catholic churches were attacked, vandalized, and burned.
Lumon said that the burnings continue, despite the military’s efforts to shut the violence down:
Precious lives have been lost, homes and villages burned or destroyed, property vandalized and looted, places of worship desecrated and burned. More than 50,000 people have lost their homes and are languishing in camps for the displaced. Many have left the capital Imphal and the state to safer places in neighboring Mizoram State, other northeastern states, and metropolises. There is a complete collapse of the constitutional apparatus in the state. In short, there is fear, uncertainty, and a general sense of hopelessness.
Lumon criticized the government’s response to the violence in Manipur, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of silence, Interior Minister Amit Shah of incompetence, and the local government of indecisiveness.
“In a month and a half, the elected state government and the central administration in New Delhi have been unable to restore the rule of law and put an end to the insane violence,” Lumon said. “It can be said that we are facing the collapse of the state machinery at the local level.”
Lumon said that the violence is interfering with Catholic pastoral work as well as wiping out schools and other institutions. He also said some have been forced into the Meitei traditional religion, known as Sanamahism.
“There are accounts of Meitei Christians being threatened if they do not return to their original religion and of pastors being told not to rebuild destroyed churches,” he said.
Lumon’s fellow bishops in India have also condemned the ongoing violence.
