Recent weeks have seen a spike in ethnoreligious violence in northeastern India’s Manipur state after a period of relative calm. Widespread unrest tore through the state in 2023, dividing residents along ethnic and religious lines and leading to hundreds of deaths, the destruction of more than 300 churches, and the displacement of at least 60,000 mostly Christian residents. According to reports, the recent violence was sparked by the murder of a young Kuki woman, whose body was found abandoned in a river. The Kuki people are a minority ethnic group concentrated in Manipur’s hill country. They are mostly made up of Christians, while the majority are Meitei, a Hindu-majority ethnic group concentrated in the state’s valley. Reports that emerged during the violence of 2023 indicated that dozens of Meitei churches were among those destroyed by Meitei attackers, suggesting that Meitei mobs and militias were targeting communities based not only on their ethnicity but also based on religion. More than a dozen people were reportedly killed in this month’s flareup, and half a dozen churches were torched. The violence in 2023 sparked when the Manipur High Court recommended that the executive branch of the state government make the majority Meitei people eligible for Scheduled Tribe benefits,

India (International Christian Concern) — In 23 of India’s 28 states, Christians endure discrimination and violence daily, according to a report by the New Delhi-based civil society organization United Christian Forum (UCF). UCF’s “Violence Monitor Report 2024” compiled incidents reported from January to October through its helpline. The list of incidents includes physical violence, murder, sexual violence, intimidation and threats, social boycotts, damage to religious properties, desecration of religious symbols, and disruption of prayer services. October data revealed that 12 cases targeted women specifically, while 14 incidents involved Dalit Christians, and 24 were against tribal Christians, reflecting the vulnerabilities faced by marginalized communities within the Christian population. Around 673 incidents were reported on the UCF helpline this year through October, with two North Indian states, Uttar Pradesh (182) and Chhattisgarh (139), leading with the highest number of incidents. Out of these 673 alleged incidents of violence and discrimination, only 47 cases were registered as First Information Reports (FIRs). Indian police only take cognizable action when a complaint gets registered as an FIR. UCF National Coordinator A.C. Michael has alleged that it has become difficult for Christians to practice their faith in India as violence against Christians increases throughout the country each year. According to UCF,

Twenty people have died in the past two weeks as ethnoreligious violence resurges in India's northeastern state of Manipur, where Christians and Hindus remain locked in a devastating conflict that has displaced more than 60,000 people since May 2023. The latest outbreak of violence between the majority Hindu Meiteis and minority Christian Kukis has shattered hopes for peace in the region, with churches burned, children killed and security forces struggling to maintain order. The conflict has effectively segregated the two communities, forcing 50,000 Kuki Christians to flee the Imphal valley and 10,000 Meiteis to abandon their homes in Kuki-majority areas. The recent surge of violence erupted in Jiribam, near the Assam border, after a series of retaliatory killings that began with the murder of a young Kuki woman found in a river. Tensions escalated dramatically after the Christian teacher and mother of three was killed and burned in an attack by Meiteis, leading to a deadly confrontation between armed Kukis and security forces that left 10 Kuki assailants dead. The situation deteriorated further when six Meiteis, including three children, were found dead on Nov. 16. In response, protesters torched Kuki homes and six churches in Jiribam, while mobs in the state capital of

A Christian ecumenical body has urged India’s federal government to restore peace in Manipur state, where life was disrupted by the latest bout of violence between indigenous Christians and Meitei Hindus. “The gravity of the situation cannot be overstated. The people of Manipur are caught in a state of utter hopelessness and insecurity,” said Reverend Asir Ebenezer, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), representing Protestant and Orthodox Churches in the country. In a public appeal on Nov. 19, the NCCI referred to the brutal killing of 20 people, including women and children, since Nov. 7 in the state bordering civil war-hit Myanmar. “Families have been torn apart, and entire communities have been displaced from their homes. Children cannot continue their studies,” it said. The NCCI also referred to the miseries caused to the people by the acute shortage of basic necessities such as food, healthcare, and transport facilities. “The continued instability is eroding the very social fabric of Manipur, and the toll on the mental and physical well-being of the people is staggering,” it said. The spate of violence began on May 3 last year and has claimed around 250 lives besides displacing some 60,000 people, mostly Christians. Over 360 Churches

Incidents of violence against Christians in India remain high, with 673 incidents reported on the United Christian Forum (UCF) helpline by the end of October 2024. Uttar Pradesh is leading with the highest number of incidents (182) followed by Chhattisgarh (139). The United Christian Forum (UCF) is a Delhi-based civil society organization focused on Christian issues. According to the “Violence Monitor Report 2024,” only 47 FIRs were registered out of a total of 673 incidents. Speaking to Maktoob, AC Michael, the National Coordinator of the United Christian Forum (UCF), said, “It has become difficult for Christians to practice their faith in India. Violence against Christians had increased across the country.” “In 2014, incidents of violence against Christians were fewer than a hundred. Then, in 2018, it increased to 292, and every year since, the numbers have risen. Last year, in 2023, we recorded about 750 incidents, which means two Christians were attacked every day in our country.” The incidents include physical violence, murder, sexual violence, intimidation and threats, social boycotts, damage to religious properties, desecration of religious symbols, and disruption of prayer services. UCF said that Christians are facing varying degrees of violence and discrimination in 23 of India’s 28 states. January witnessed 69 incidents

The western Indian Maharashtra state did not include a Christian representative in the state panel meant to safeguard the interests of religious minorities, which Christian leaders say was unfortunate and unusual. “It is unfortunate that no one from the Christian community was given representation on the 11-member Maharashtra State Minorities Commission,” said Father Nigel Barrett, the spokesperson of Cardinal Oswald Gracias, who heads the Bombay archdiocese in the state capital Mumbai. The pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government on Oct. 11 filled nine vacant commission posts with six Muslims, two Jains, and a Sikh member ahead of assembly polls in India’s most industrialized state on Nov. 20. The minority panels are set up to safeguard and protect the interests of Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jain, and Zoroastrians (Parsis), who are notified as minority communities in the country. Christians comprise less than 1 percent (0.96) of Maharashtra state’s 126.5 million people, most of whom are Hindus. Buddhists (5.8 percent) and Jains (1.25 percent) are more numerous than Christians. However, Sikhs (0.20 percent), who are fewer than Christians, have a representative in the panel. “As a religious minority, we have every right to have at least one member in the statutory body,” Father Barrett told UCA News on

India (International Christian Concern) — After the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at the national level in 2014, many large Christian organizations that had been receiving funds from abroad came under government scrutiny and were charged with embezzlement and other corrupt financial practices. Recently, the government stated that many of these organizations were involved in alleged illegal religious conversion activities, too. For the first time, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has listed illegal religious conversion activities as a reason for blocking foreign funding of certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in India. Indian organizations that receive funds from abroad must have a clearance license under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The organizations now must submit their audited accounts annually to the central government, showing the expenditure of all foreign funds. The new restriction became known after several organizations sought clarity on why their FCRA clearances were denied. According to media reports, several Christian and civil society NGOs had their FCRA licenses revoked for allegedly violating provisions of the foreign funding law. Earlier this year, the ministry canceled the FCRA license of the think-tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR). In March, it also canceled licenses of five NGOs, including the Church

Six bodies of women and children were recovered as ethnic violence escalated between indigenous Christians and Meitei Hindus in India’s strife-torn Manipur state. Several churches and homes, including those of legislators, were set on fire in the past three days, Church leaders say. “We are living in a terrible situation. There is no guarantee for our lives and properties,” said a Church leader based in the troubled state in the northeastern region. The leader, who did not want to be named due to safety concerns, told UCA News on Nov. 18 that the entire state was “under an undeclared emergency, and people were frightened to get out of their homes.” Chief Minister N Biren Singh convened an emergency meeting on Nov. 18 as violence and arson continued in different parts of the state, and seven legislators of the National People’s Party (NPP), his government's alliance partner, withdrew their support to the government. However, Singh, a leader of the Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, faces no immediate threat as his government still has a workable majority in the 60-member state assembly. Angry mobs set fire to the residences of a couple of legislators. They tried to storm into the ancestral home