‘Dire’ conditions in Manipur amid ethnic and religious violence

The situation remains dire for the thousands of people whose lives have been altogether altered, especially Christians.Refugees from Manipur in a displacement in June last year. Many remain in camps without adequate provisions or sanitation.
A new report on ethnic violence in India’s north-eastern Manipur state called on the international community to recognise its religious dimension.

The report for the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA) published earlier this month marked a year since the outbreak of fighting between groups from the Kuki-Zo and Meitei peoples on 3-6 May 2023, which has since caused over 100 deaths.

It found that “the situation remains dire for the thousands of people whose lives have been altogether altered, especially Christians” from both peoples. Many thousands remain in displacement camps, where the ethnicities are separated to avoid further clashes.

The IRFBA investigation found evidence of extremists from the Hindu-majority Meitei targeting the churches of the Christian-majority Kuki-Zo, and also attacking the small number of Meitei Christians and demanding their conversion.

One Meitei Christian quoted in the report said that Christianity was seen as support for the Kuki-Zo, and that Meitei Christians face persecution from their own families.

“They are struggling from their family, from their relatives, and those who are pastors, they are being beaten, and are threatened to be killed,” she said.

Kailean Khongsai, an Anglican ordinand from the Kuki-Zo who contributed to the report, told The Tablet that Meitei Christians had asked Kuki churches not to contact them for their own safety. He said Christian leaders in Manipur were “scattered [and] can’t find a platform” and that their future seemed “very bleak”.

The combination of ethnic and religious factors in the violencehad produced “so many narratives” which confused “over-simplified” reportage, he said.However, he insisted that for the Kuki-Zo Christianity was “part of our culture and identity” which Meitei extremists attacked.

The unrest originated in a government plan last year to grant the majority Meitei “scheduled tribe” status, previously given only to minorities as the Kuki-Zo providing constitutional recognition and entitling them to preferential treatment such as reservation in education, jobs and political representation.

Clashes between Kuki-Zo protests and Meitei groups escalated into widespread ethnic violence, which destroyed many livelihoods and forced out vulnerable populations.

Khongsai described conditions in the displacement camps, which he said refugees were unable to leave because of persistent dangers from extremists in their villages. He said many vulnerable people had died amid poor sanitation and a lack of aid from the authorities.

“We often have children and adults getting very sick in these camps,” said one woman quoted in the IRFBA report. “There are no good medical facilities here. All good hospitals are in Meitei areas, which are now no more accessible to us.”

Priya Sharma, a partner of the charity Open Doors in India, told The Tablet that “Meitei extremists are constantly on the lookout” in the villages refugees had fled.

The Revd Satkhokai Chongloi, a pastor to a Kuki-Zo church, told the report: “Hundreds of our villages in the periphery of [Manipur’s capital] Imphal city have been burnt, and many villagers have been mercilessly butchered. Even children, women, elderly, the sick and mentally ill people have not been spared.

“The gender-based violence, targeting our women and girls of all ages, has included gang rape, parading women naked in the street, and burning women alive or when already dead.”

Footage of the violence in Manipur provoked outrage in India last year, but Sharma said that “as the months went by the news died down”. The internet in the state was blocked for several months.

In his testimony to the report, Chongloi claimed the authorities “are continuously trying to justify the horrific carnage through lies and deceit” and “actively controlled the media narrative”.Further violence in April disrupted voting in Manipur at the start of India’s six-week-long general election. Kuki-Zo groups alleged that murders and mutilations ahead of polling were intended to dissuade them from voting.

Fighting and damage to voting machines led the opposition Congress party to demand a re-run of voting at the state’s 47 polling stations. New votes were eventually held at 11 stations.

This article is originally published on https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/18791/-dire-conditions-in-manipur-amid-ethnic-and-religious-violence