Thousands of ethnic Kuki Christians are still struggling to restart life after being displaced following the bloody ethnic conflict in Manipur state in northeast India that took place in early May. However, those who fled to neighboring Mizoram are grateful for the welcome they have received in the majority-Christian state. “Unlike thousands of others [refugees from Manipur], we are lucky. We have got government accommodation, the Church is helping us, and our children have been admitted in [the] government school,” said John Thangvanglian, a catechist at St. Joseph’s Parish of Sugnu in Manipur. “On hearing about the comfortable situation, seven more families have contacted me and [will be] reaching here soon,” Thangvanglian told CNA Nov. 25 from Aizawl. Manipur, located east of Bangladesh and at the border with Myanmar, is home to 3.3 million people. For decades, members of Meitei, Kuki, and Naga tribes have fought over land and religious differences. Beginning in May, a protracted violent clash between the majority Meiteis, most of whom are Hindus, and the minority Kukis left nearly 200 dead. Over 60,000 Kuki refugees along with 10,000 Meiteis were driven out from Kuki strongholds. The government of the Christian majority state of Mizoram extended a helping hand to more than 12,000

The bodies were found with multiple bullet wounds in a village in the northeastern state’s Tengnoupal district. At least 13 people have been killed in a gunfight between two unknown armed groups in India’s restive Manipur state, a police official said. Their bodies, with multiple bullet wounds, were found on Monday in a village in the northeastern state’s Tengnoupal district where the official said a “massive” gunfight was reported. “We are not in a position to immediately identify the dead bodies and cannot say which militant group they belong to,” the official told Reuters news agency by telephone from the state capital, Imphal. “It could be possible the weapons were looted after they were killed,” the official added. The killings came seven months after deadly ethnic clashes erupted between members of the majority Meitei group and the minority Kuki-Zo community over sharing government benefits and quotas. The sporadic violence since May 3 in the remote state has killed at least 180 people and displaced tens of thousands of others. The turmoil erupted following a court directive instructing the government to contemplate extending the special benefits afforded to the Kuki-Zo people to the Meitei community as well. The Meiteis are primarily Hindus and live in and around Imphal, while others such

London: (By Hannah Chowwdhry and Juliet Chowdhry) In the North East Indian state of Manipur, the Christian community is facing a grave humanitarian crisis, marked by violence, displacement, and a systematic attempt to erase their existence. This disturbing reality, unfolding since May 2023, reveals a shocking narrative of persecution and ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the Meitei Hindu community against the Kuki Zo Tribal Christians. The orchestrated attacks, carefully planned over the course of a year, began with a violent assault on the Kuki Zo community, predominantly Christians of the region. The brutality escalated, leading to the rape, murder, and burning of homes, schools, theological colleges, and churches. This wave of destruction, fueled by the Meitei community’s selfish ambitions for land and a sinister desire to eradicate Christianity, has left over 60,000 to 70,000 Kuki people displaced, seeking refuge in crowded camps, rented houses, or with sympathetic relatives. As the Kuki Zo community grapples with the aftermath of this onslaught, they are not merely victims; they have become voices of resilience, courageously shedding light on the ongoing genocide. The video below features firsthand testimonies that provide a direct account of the situation. The motives behind these attacks are not just communal; they are politically

Police in Uttar Pradesh have arrested close to 400 Christians since enforcing an anti-conversion law three years ago Nearly 400 Christians have been arrested in a northern Indian state in the past three years since the imposition of a stringent law prohibiting religious conversions, say local Christian leaders.   Police in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of the country, have registered 181 cases against Christians under the sweeping provisions of the law that prohibits change of religion “through force, allurement, fraud, or marriage.” Among the 398 people arrested so far, a majority are Protestant pastors and followers of neo-Christian groups. Those jailed include 318 males and 80 females, besides a Catholic priest.   “This data is from Nov. 27, 2020, to Nov. 27, 2023,” a Church leader who did not want to be identified told UCA News.   Most of them are currently out on bail and only about 50 including Father Babu Francis, director of social work at the Allahabad diocese remain in jail.   The priest was arrested along with three other Catholics on Oct. 3 after a local leader of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused them of attempting to convert villagers in Allahabad district.   Uttar Pradesh is ruled by BJP, the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The state

A pro-Hindu outfit is seeking to push the demand for scrapping welfare benefits to tribal Christians in Tripura state on Dec. 25 Indian Christian leaders and secular parties have opposed a protest rally planned on Christmas Day by a hardline Hindu organization, which is seeking to end welfare benefits for tribal people who have embraced Christianity or Islam.   The organization, whose name means forum to protect tribal people's religion and culture -- Janajati Dharma Sanskriti Suraksha Manch (JSM) -- announced last week it will hold the rally on Dec. 25 at Agartala, the state capital of Tripura in northeast India.   An affiliate of the pro-Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the JSM says Christianity and Islam are foreign-origin religions, and hence tribal people converted to these faiths should be removed from the official Scheduled Tribes (STs) list to deny them education and job quotas, besides other welfare benefits, under India’s affirmative action programs. Father Ivan D'Silva, secretary for social communication at Agartala diocese, which covers the entire Tripura state, said he wasn’t sure about “the motive behind the planned rally on Christmas Day, the holiest and most sacred festival for Christians across the world.”   “It looks like it is being done deliberately. We called a meeting of all

Blasts triggered by improvised explosive device (IED), allegedly by 57-year-old Dominic Martin who claimed to be an estranged member of Jehovah’s Witnesses sect “She was like an angel. A lovable kid, with a smile so infectious. I don’t have words,” says Bindu Ramanan, her voice laden with grief. The class teacher of ‘7A’ division at the SNDP High School in Neeleswaram in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, Bindu gets overwhelmed with emotion when she talks about Libina KP, a 12-year-old student in her class. On the morning of October 29, a Sunday, Bindu said she heard on the FM radio at home about the bomb blasts that pierced a gathering of the Christian sect Jehovah’s Witnesses at a convention centre in Kalamassery, near Kochi. A few hours later, a teacher rang her up to convey that a student named Libina was seriously injured in the blasts. “Libina is not a very common name

A Christian body has launched an online campaign to mobilize support for enactment of a law to protect properties of the Indian Church, which is said to own the second-largest land bank after the nation's government.   “We launched this online signature campaign after Church leaders of different established denominations continued to alienate Church properties illegally for their personal greed,” said Cyril Samuel Dara, a lawyer from Mumbai who is instrumental behind the move.   Dara is secretary of the inter-denominational Christian Reform United People Association (CRUPA) which launched the online petition on Nov. 24. It has so far generated more than 1,300 signatories. He told UCA News on Nov. 28, that “our goal is to protect Church properties as a treasure for our future generations.”   CRUPA has members from the Catholic Church, the Church of North India (CNI), and the Methodist Church.   Church leaders have sold or leased valuable properties in many prime locations for peanuts without the knowledge and consent of believers, Dara observed.   “If this unbridled alienation of Church properties continues, our future generation will have no space left for practicing their faith,” Dara, a member of the CNI, said.   He said when they objected to the illegal selling of Church properties in western Maharashtra state that included India’s

Christians in the Bastar region are once again being denied permission to bury their dead, according to reports from Narayanpur district in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. Christian Today spoke to Phulsingh Kachlam, a local Christian civil society leader and politician from Narayanpur, who confirmed that at least five incidents have taken place since Nov. 10, where Christians have been prevented from burying their dead. “The latest incident was from the day before yesterday, wherein police officials and the Tehsildar engaged in violence and forcibly took away the body of Sukhram, a local tribal Christian from the village Koliyari, after local Hindus and other villagers objected to his burial,” Kachlam said. The mob protesting Sukhram's burial was not allowing his family to bury him on their own land, Kachlam said. Not only this, but the mob was against burial anywhere in the village or around it unless the family recants their Christian faith. It is normal for tribal communities to bury their dead, and tribals who have embraced Christianity have continued the practice of burial. The body of Sukhram was taken by the authorities to Narayanpur town, where he was buried in the absence of his family members, according to a local Christian leader who

Mizoram: Malsawmliana, the general secretary of the NGOCC, mentioned that the delegation had sought an appointment with the Election Commission on Friday. The Election Commission has granted them the opportunity to meet the chief election commissioner and other officials on Tuesday at 3 pm. In a collective effort, churches across Mizoram organised prayer services over the weekend to seek divine intervention in hopes of changing the date for the counting of votes in the state assembly polls held on November 7. The Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), a conglomerate of 15 major churches, had urged congregations to come together for prayers on Saturday night or Sunday, emphasising the significance of Sunday as a sacred day for the majority of Christians in the state The MKHC, in a letter addressed to the churches, expressed disappointment over the lack of progress in efforts to reschedule the counting date. The conglomerate highlighted that leaders of the NGO Coordination Committee (NGOCC) are scheduled to meet with the Election Commission on November 28. Urging church members to join in prayer, the MKHC aimed to ensure that these efforts would lead to a favorable outcome. Several churches responded to this call, holding prayers either on Saturday night or Sunday,

Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) People from scheduled tribes who convert to Islam or Christianity should not get any reservation benefits in education and government jobs because they have given up their religion, culture, traditions and ways of worshiping, said former Lok Sabha deputy speaker Kariya Munda on Sunday. The BJP leader was speaking at a rally organised here by Janjati Suraksha Manch, which is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). “A huge conspiracy is going on in the country under the garb of religious conversion of tribals. Our demand is that those tribals who convert to Islam or Christianity must not get any benefits of reservation meant for the tribals,” he said.   This article is originally published on  https://www.ptinews.com/news/national/tribals-embracing-other-faiths-should-not-get-quota-benefits-former-lok-sabha-deputy-speaker/695689.html