Extremists Are Destroying Indian Christians’ Homes and Shattering Their Lives
For nearly two decades, mob violence has driven believers from their communities and upended their sense of security. Since the beginning of May, ethnic and religious violence in Manipur, a state in northeast India, has resulted in the deaths of at least 142 people, the destruction of over 300 churches and hundreds of villages, and one of the largest violence-driven internal displacements in recent Indian history. A fact-finding team that visited earlier this month reported that the clashes were “state-sponsored,” and the violence has uprooted more than 65,000 people from their homes and forced them to seek shelter elsewhere. India records the highest numbers of internal displacements annually, primarily due to natural disasters. But recent communal violence and persecution against religious minorities has wreaked havoc in numerous Indian states, including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha. While the government has an official legal framework for helping communities displaced by natural disasters and development projects, it has none for those displaced by violence or manmade conflict. Instead, the level of response has varied widely depending on public sympathy for the victims, media attention, and protests by those affected. Rehabilitation, including the provision of permanent shelter, jobs, and education, remains a significant challenge for the government
Conditions in Relief Camps Pathetic, INDIA Delegation Tells Manipur Governor
“You are requested to apprise the union government of the complete breakdown of law and order in Manipur for the last 89 days so as to enable them to intervene in the precarious situation in Manipur to restore peace and normalcy,” the opposition alliance's letter to the Manipur governor said. New Delhi: On the second day of their Manipur visit, opposition leaders wrote a letter to the state’s governor, Anusuiya Uikey, requesting her to take effective measures to restore peace and harmony in the state. The delegation comprising 21 parties from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) are on a two-day visit to assess the ground situation in violence-hit Manipur. They told the governor that the delegation visited relief camps in Churachandpur, Moirang and Imphal, and “were very shocked and sad to hear the stories of anxieties, uncertainties, and pains and sorrows of individuals affected by the unprecedented violence unleashed by both sides (Meitis and Kuki-Zomi communities) since the beginning of the clashes”. The delegation accused the BJP-led Union and state governments of failing to protect the lives of people and properties in Manipur, and claimed that over the last three months, more than 140 people were killed and 500 were injured,
From Manipur, A Peace Activist’s Account Of State Criminality & Culpability a
In this blow-by-blow account, peace activist Harsh Mander describes his journey to Manipur, where he met Meitei and Kuki families broken by three months of ethnic violence, life inside the camps where hundreds live in despair, unsure if they will ever return to their scorched villages, and the “extreme culpability” of a seemingly partisan state that has done little to help the minority Christians who have been killed and uprooted in greater numbers. Delhi: In the four days that ten peace activists were in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, convulsed in ethnic and religious violence since May, nothing brought home the theatre of war like the gunfire and mortar explosions they passed while returning from the Kuki camps to the capital Imphal on 27 July. Two days later, Harsh Mander, who led the team from Karwan e Mohabbat, a campaign for peace and solidarity he started in 2017, told Article 14: “It was very scary.” “We could hear the sounds of gunshots close at hand and mortar bombs. It became really difficult to know what to do,” said Mander. “When we reached the border, the sound of firing was very close. It was within 100 metres.” In the state of 3.2 million people, Meiteis
Christian orphanage in India shut down alleging ‘conversion’
A Christian orphanage in a poll-bound central Indian state has been closed down, citing attempts to convert children to Christianity. The children housed in the orphanage were moved to government-run facilities on July 26 following a surprise raid on the orphanage by the child rights officials of Madhya Pradesh state. The orphanage housed 73 children, 38 boys and 35 girls. It was managed by a Christian tribal group called Adivasi Sahayada Samiti (council for helping tribal people) Jobat in Alirajpur district. The orphanage failed to comply with the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act as it “did not have a valid registration,” said Omkar Singh, who headed the inspection team. The inspection team also accused the orphanage managers of working for religious conversion after seizing copies of the Bible from some Christian children. Kalpana Daniel, president of the tribal council and a member of the Church of North India (CNI), said she sought time to register the orphanage and get licenses. But officials closed it down. Some 30 children, who are orphans, were moved to government facilities in the state. Children of single parents were sent back to their houses. The tribal council has been working for the poor for the past three decades. "It is duly
Ghaziabad News: Pastor Arrested under Unlawful Religious Conversion Act
Ghaziabad News: A man has been arrested by the Ghaziabad police from Modinagar on Wednesday 26 July in accusation of converting socially and economically backward classes into Christianity. The man held is identified as Mahindar Kumar, who is a pastor. Mahindar is originally from Peernagar Sudana village of Hapur District has been accused of converting people from backward classes into Christianity. Authorities took action into the complaint registering that some people are pursuing Modinagar locals to convert into Christianity by offering them jobs or money. FIR registered ACP Modinagar Gyan Prakash has told the press that the FIR was registered against Rohit and his mother Kusum after complaint filed by Ashish Kumar on Sunday, 23 July of illegal religious conversion. “Case has been registered under relevant sections of IPC and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act 2021.” He further told the media. ACP Gyan Prakash told police “Investigation revealed that Rohit and Kusum were under the influence of Mahindar Kumar. Police are questioning Rohit and Kusum. During the investigation, Mahindar have been involved in conversion for last eight years and have converted around 15 people.” Foreign Connections Police officials have stated that Mahindar and his wife with few other accomplices run a charitable
Violence and State Inaction in Manipur Condemned Across the World
The ongoing ethnic/religious violence in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur and the lack of adequate response from the state have been condemned by people and organizations around the world. The violence erupted on May 3 after the Kuki-Zomi community protested against the Meitei demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The majority Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 percent and reside mostly in the hill districts. Reports of tribal Kuki attacks on ethnic Meiteis circulated immediately after the protest, which in turn plunged the Imphal Valley which accommodates 90% of Manipur’s population into an outburst of violence against Kuki tribal Christians. At the same time, ethnic Meitei settlements in the Kuki-dominated hills surrounding the valley also were the targets of violence. While the official death count now totaling around 150, with the overwhelming majority of the victims being Kuki Christians, human rights observers estimate the figure to be underestimated. Nearly 60,000 people, most of them Kuki Christians, now have fled their homes to the Kuki-dominated hills and to other states to escape the arson attacks, and more than 300 churches have been burned and
357 Churches in India Set On Fire With the Support of the Authorities
(ZENIT News) The Thursday, 20th July the monsoon session of India’s parliament was disrupted by politicians demanding an emergency debate on a video footage of two women being led naked by a mob in Manipur – before they were gang raped, according to reports. The event occurred on 4th May, the day after the uprisings which spiraled into violence against the Christian-majority Kuki and Naga ethnic groups broke out, but the footage only surfaced on the web (Wednesday, 19th July). Although reports have not confirmed that the women were Christian, they belong to the Kuki ethnic group. Last week, senior BJP politician R Vanramchhuanga resigned over his party’s failure to condemn violence against Christians. In his resignation letter, dated 13th July, Vanramchhuanga wrote that even though 357 churches and other buildings belonging to Christian organizations had been destroyed by Meitei militants in Manipur that BJP leaders from local and national governments had not spoken out against the targeting of Christians. Christians belonging to the Meitei ethnic group were also targeted during the attacks. The vicious persecution in India’s Manipur state – where hundreds of churches have been destroyed – has entered a new stage as a video showing women being paraded naked went viral. Vanramchhuanga,
Extremists Are Destroying Indian Christians’ Homes and Shattering Their Lives
For nearly two decades, mob violence has driven believers from their communities and upended their sense of security. Since the beginning of May, ethnic and religious violence in Manipur, a state in northeast India, has resulted in the deaths of at least 142 people, the destruction of over 300 churches and hundreds of villages, and one of the largest violence-driven internal displacements in recent Indian history. A fact-finding team that visited earlier this month reported that the clashes were “state-sponsored,” and the violence has uprooted more than 65,000 people from their homes and forced them to seek shelter elsewhere. India records the highest numbers of internal displacements annually, primarily due to natural disasters. But recent communal violence and persecution against religious minorities has wreaked havoc in numerous Indian states, including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha. While the government has an official legal framework for helping communities displaced by natural disasters and development projects, it has none for those displaced by violence or manmade conflict. Instead, the level of response has varied widely depending on public sympathy for the victims, media attention, and protests by those affected. Rehabilitation, including the provision of permanent shelter, jobs, and education, remains a significant challenge for the government
Seven Christians Are Seriously Injured in an Attack in Central India
07/25/2023 India (International Christian Concern) – In a brutal attack against Christians in a central Indian state, seven people—including three women—sustained life-threatening injuries earlier this month. The atrocious incident took place in the village of Bhaganpal in the Baster district of Chhattisgarh state. All seven victims were rushed to the public hospital in Jagdalpur. “Christians in Bhaganpal village have been harassed since March this year,” a local pastor said when speaking to an ICC correspondent. The pastor added that, “The Christians were summoned at the village gathering twice in the last two months, to persuade them to reconvert back to their previous religion. Things are becoming increasingly difficult for Christians to practice their faith.” As 60 Christians gathered for a Sunday service, a mob of around 15 radical Hindu nationalists burst into the congregation and began to beat the worshippers, another source said. The mob attacked the congregants with sharp stones and heavy bludgeons, leaving seven people seriously injured, including one whose hand was fractured, one who needed stitches, and another who was unconscious for four hours. The victims are frightened and taking shelter in a different village at a Christian house, cared for by fellow believers. “Their lives are under danger if
Indian pastor, six others arrested on ‘conversion’ charges
The police in northern Uttar Pradesh state arrived during the Sunday service and also sealed the prayer hall Seven Christians, including a pastor and a woman, were arrested and their prayer hall was sealed by police in a northern Indian state for alleged violation of the stringent anti-conversion law. Police in northern Uttar Pradesh state interrupted a Sunday prayer service on July 23 at Badesar village in Ghazipur district. They took the pastor and six others to the police station, where they were retained for a night. All seven were presented in a local court on July 24 and were remanded in judicial custody. “It is totally a false case against our people,” said Vikrant Kumar John, son of arrested pastor Vinod Kumar James, who heads the Protestant James Prarthana Bhavan (Prayer Hall) at Badesar. >John told UCA News on July 25 that a 50-strong police team came during the Sunday service. “They rushed inside the church and stopped the prayer service, accusing us of conducting religious conversion,” he said. They also seized copies of the Bible and other Christian books, he added. Nearly 700 people were attending the service. They arrested the pastor and six others and allowed the others to go home. "The police seemed to be acting as
