Religious Facet Seen in Ethnic Violence in Manipur, India
Christians likely targeted in inter-tribal attacks, sources say. A surge of ethnic violence with a growing religious component in northeastern India led to the killing on Friday (June 9) of a woman in her church building and two other Christians, sources said. The attack by ethnic Meitei with automatic rifles in Manipur state’s Khoken village, on the boundary between Kangpokpi and Imphal West districts, killed the ethnic Kuki Christian woman in her 60s, Domkhohoi Haokip, as she prayed, according to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF). “They have no regard for women and children,” Ginza Vualzong, spokesperson for the ITLF, told Morning Star News. “A woman was killed inside the church while she was praying, that’s how merciless they are.” Two other ethnic Kuki Christians, Jangpao Touthang and Khaimang Guite, were killed in the attack in which the armed Meitei arrived in the vehicles and uniforms of the Indian army, according to an ITLF press statement. Local people initially thought they were government soldiers combing the area to maintain order. The use of army uniforms and vehicles by the Meitei militants raised questions about how they obtained them and potential involvement of outside forces in the conflict. Two other Kuki Christian villagers, identified as Thongneh
More distressing reports from Manipur
In Manipur, which has been beset by fatal ethnic conflict for a month, a crowd set a seven-year-old child, his mother and his aunt on fire before they could escape. Tonshing Hangsing, his mother Meena Hangsing, and his aunt Lydia Lourembam were taking the seven-year-old to the hospital to receive treatment for a gunshot wound he got during an attack by alleged Meitei militia members on Sunday. The ambulance was accompanied by police officers and Assam Rifles troops since the child's health was severe, but as they approached the Iroisemba neighbourhood, they were allegedly halted by Meira Piabis, a women-led civil society organisation. Tonshing, Meena and Lydia were still inside the ambulance when it was set on fire, according to the 2,000-person crowd, who claimed it had been used to transport Kuki militants before they went on the rampage and attacked police. “We are in shock. We thought that because Meena and Lydia are Meitei women, they would not be attacked,” according to Champi Hangsing, a relative of the victims, who spoke to The National. The crowd yelled, "We have caught a Kuki," after learning that Tonsing's mother hails from a Kuki-dominant region. They failed to recognize that she was a Meitei because of their
Conference of Religious India Ri Bhoi condemns attacks on Christians in Manipur
During the rally, participants carried placards condemning the persecution of Christians in Manipur. The Ri Bhoi zone of the Conference of Religious India (CRI) held a short gathering in front of the Nongpoh Town Shopping Complex, on Saturday after witnessing the persecution of Christians in Manipur, as well as other parts of India, including the burning of Christian churches and schools and the community conflicts between the Meiteis and the Kukis. During the rally, participants carried placards condemning the persecution of Christians in Manipur, and called on the Manipur government and the Central Government to protect Christians in the state, particularly by taking measures to end the conflicts and restoring peace for the public. Church leaders from the eastern region, including Br Varghese SG, Sr Esconciana Vaz MSMHC (NE Regional Secretary), Sr Prema Chowallur SCC (Convener of North East FORUM of Religious for Justice and Peace), Sr Teresa Kamasuam FMA, Fr Laurence Kharluni (CRI Shillong President, Shillong Archdiocese), Br Sunil Britto CFC (CRI Ri Bhoi President), Sr Melita Syiem MSMHC, the youths of St Stephen Hostel Girls, Opel Lyngdoh (Headman of Nongpoh), among others attended the public gathering. This article was first published on https://themeghalayan.com/
Killings continue in Manipur as Christian worshipper shot dead in church, tribal leaders report
The outbreak of communal violence in India’s north-eastern Manipur state shows no sign of ending, with tribal leaders reporting three new deaths, including a woman shot dead inside church. Confirming details of village attacks is difficult, as the internet is restricted and accessing remote areas difficult for journalists. But according to The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), which represents the mainly Christian Kuki tribals, the incident was a “heinous attack on Khoken Village, situated on the boundary of Kangpokpi District and Imphal West District”. In a statement, the ITLF said the attack involved Meitei militants disguised in Indian Army uniforms and using Army vehicles, in the early hours (4:00 AM) of June 9, 2023. “The Kuki-Zo villagers, unsuspecting of the attackers’ true identity and assuming it was an Army combing operation, gave way but were instead met with automatic rifle fire, resulting in the tragic deaths of Mr. Jangpao Touthang, Mr Khaimang Guite and Mrs. Domkhohoi," their statement read. “Two others, Mr. Thongneh, and Mr. Thangkhojang, were also injured in the attack. Mrs. Domkhohoi was saying her early morning prayer in the church when these militants shot her dead, with no regard for the sanctity of a place of worship," it added. The anti-Christian aspect to the attacks
Manipur crisis part 3: How can the State watch while Manipur burns?
This is the third of our three-part series trying to observe the Manipur crisis from as many angles as possible. In this piece, the author argues that the first step would be to try to prevent more violence from taking place by exercising the writ of the State. The healing will come later, as it must. — ON April 27 a mob set on fire an open gym in Churachandpur district of Manipur, which was scheduled to be inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Manipur, N. Biren Singh the very next day. Meanwhile, on April 28, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum had called for a total shutdown in the district in protest against the eviction of Kuki tribal residents of K. Songjang village at the site of the Churachandpur–Khoupam protected forest area. Also read: Manipur crisis: Supreme Court expresses disappointment with HC, directs authorities to exercise “responsibility and restraint” On May 3, a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised by the All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM) to protest against the demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list by the Meitei Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee (STDCM). In the judgment, delivered on March 27, the Manipur High Court approved the petition filed by the members of
Indian nun, mother arrested for ‘offending’ religion
A Catholic nun and her mother were among five people arrested for allegedly offending religious feelings and promoting enmity between religions after they joined a Mass in the central Indian Chhattisgarh state. Police arrested newly professed Sister Bibha Kerketta, a member of Daughters of St Anne (DSA) on June 6 night along with her mother, aunt, uncle and a driver from her home at Balachapper village, Jashpur diocese. “The nun and her family members were booked in a totally false case,” said Father Nirmal Minj, parish priest of the nun's Shanti Bhavan parish. More universal than Catholicism? Mary among Asian religions The arrested were kept in the police station at night and were produced before the court the following day, on June 7 evening. The court granted bail to the nun’s uncle but remanded others into judicial custody, Minj said. Kerketta became a professed nun in December and the family “celebrated a thanksgiving Mass at her home,” Minj told UCA News on June 8. “Close family members, priests and nuns from the locality attended the Mass and had a fellowship meal as well,” he said. Soon after the guests left, some 20 men, some of them from the nearby villages, forced their way into her home and started
Indian bishops say Manipur riots targeted tribal Christians
Bishops' body in Kerala says the 'well-orchestrated' violence in the northeastern state exposes BJP’s ‘double standards’ A man walks past a house that was set on fire and vandalized by mobs in Khumujamba village on the outskirts of Churachandpur on May 9 in a violence-hit area of the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur. The sectarian violence in Manipur state in north-eastern India was "well-orchestrated" and "targeted the Kuki tribe," 90 percent of whom are Christians belonging to different denominations, alleged a Catholic bishops’ body from southern Kerala state. “It is true that the normal conflict between the majority local Hindu community representing Meiteis and indigenous people, mostly Christians, was communalized and used to destroy tribal Christians,” said Father Michael Pulickal, secretary of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Commission for Social Harmony and Vigilance, which carried out an inquiry into the Manipur riots. Father Pulickal told UCA News on May 29, three days after releasing a report of the commission, that “the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) changes its colors for power” and the violence “has exposed the double standards” of the party. The BJP rules India and Manipur state. The priest, a member of Carmelite of Mary Immaculate, said the commission had gathered inputs from reliable
Minority body demands India uphold constitution guarantees
National Conference for Minority also calls for an equal opportunities commission at convention in New Delhi Minority body demands India uphold constitution guarantees P. Wilson, a member of the Indian Rajya Sabha, or Upper House of parliament, addressing a convention of the National Conference for Minority in New Delhi on May 27. A national body of Indian minorities has demanded the federal government guarantee them the constitutionally protected right to practice and profess their religion and protect them from hate speech, intimidation, attacks and killings. Some 100 members of the National Conference for Minority and invitees including politicians, activists, writers and students made the demands at a gathering on May 27 at the Constitution Club in the national capital New Delhi to discuss the situation of religious minorities across the country The one-day convention also demanded the setting up of an equal opportunities commission to ensure a proportional share in the nation’s finances and resources, besides fair representation in electoral politics of the country. P. Wilson, a Christian member of the Rajya Sabha, or Upper House of the Indian parliament, said Christians had contributed immensely to nation building, especially in the fields of education and health, but instead of acknowledging it they were being falsely blamed
No letup in harassment of Church-run orphanage in India
Inmates of the orphanage were shifted in violation of an order by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, says its director A government-run child welfare agency in central India has defied a court order and asked a Church-run orphanage to move out its children in an alleged move to close down the institution. Ten children from St. Francis Sevadham Orphanage in Sagar diocese in Madhya Pradesh state, ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, were moved out in violation of a high court order against such a move. “Our 10 children were moved in the past week in different batches,” Father Sinto Varghese, director of the orphanage, told UCA News. More universal than Catholicism? Mary among Asian religions “The district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) asked us to produce the children before it and we complied with it,” Father Varghese said on May 25. The shifting, according to the priest, “is in violation of a January 2022 order of the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court" that restrained the CWC from moving inmates of the orphanage. The CWC had on May 10 issued an order to shift the children from the orphanage to government-aided facilities in gross violation of the high court order. The orphanage had filed a contempt
Indian Christian leaders stress peace in Manipur
At least 71 have died in sectarian riots with tribal Christians in a standoff with the majority Meitei Hindu community Christians on May 21 attend an ecumenical prayer meeting for peace in Manipur in front of Sacred Heart Cathedral, New Delhi, which was visited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Easter Holy Week Christian leaders have urged people in the riot-hit northeastern Indian state of Manipur to maintain peace after sectarian violence claimed over 71 lives and close to 1,700 houses, including places of worship, were burnt. “In solidarity, we grieve with our brothers and sisters who have fallen victims to violence and have suffered immensely in consequence. We also convey our deepest condolences to all those who have lost their near and dear ones to this human carnage,” Archbishop Emeritus Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati and chairman of the Joint Peace Mission Team (JPMT) said in a statement. The Joint Peace Mission Team comprising the Nagaland Joint Christian Forum and Concerned Citizens for Peace noted that the situation “in Manipur is very frightening and escalating to proportions of a huge humanitarian crisis.” The statement, signed by Archbishop Menamparampil and JPMT spokesperson, Allen Brooks, called on people in Manipur “to explore constructive ways of easing
