Indian Church leaders hail Manipur unity event

Christian leaders have hailed a 6,700-kilometer long walkathon by prominent Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, which he launched from sectarian violence-hit Manipur state, where tribal Christians are fighting for indigenous land rights.
Gandhi, who belongs to the Congress Party, started his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (India Justice-Unity March) on Jan. 14 in Manipur’s Thoubal district after the state’s pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government refused permission for him to start from the state capital Imphal, citing security reasons.

During his address, Gandhi said the march was “less about us [leaders] and more about you [citizens],” criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP for its divisive policies.
The sectarian flare-up in Manipur, bordering civil war-hit Myanmar, has claimed the lives of at least 200 people, mostly tribal Kuki Christians, and displaced over 50,000.
Modi has not yet visited Manipur nor has he initiated any action against his party’s chief minister for failing to maintain law and order in the state.

The violence began on May 3 when the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur rallied across all hill districts in the state to protest a court order directing the government to grant tribal status to the already dominant Meitei community. This would get them reservations in government jobs and educational institutions under India’s affirmative action program.
The situation is still tense in the state. On Jan. 11, four men were reported missing after fresh violence broke out.On Jan. 2, seven security personnel on their way to a search operation were hurt in an attack.

Thousands of tribal Kuki people continue living in state-run relief camps after their homes and places of worship were burnt down and destroyed.
The Kukis, who are mostly Christian and enjoy benefits under the affirmative action program, are against granting tribal status to the Meiteis, who are mostly Hindus and well off economically, socially, and politically.

Above all, this will help the Meitei people, who form 51 percent of the state’s 2.3 million people, to own land in the hills earmarked for indigenous people.“It is an appropriate move by Gandhi to select Manipur as it is being completely neglected by the prime minister and his government,” said A.C. Michael, president of the Federation of Catholic Associations of the Archdiocese of Delhi.

Michael said that “the people of Manipur are feeling orphaned by the ruling party.”
Reverend Zelhou Keyho, general secretary of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC), based in Manipur’s neighboring state of Nagaland, said: “Wanting peace in the northeast region of the country is the cry of its people.”
But the fear is that the opposition leader’s rally may become “a mere electoral instrument,” the Protestant church leader told UCA News on Jan 15.
During his public rally, Gandhi said Manipur had become “a symbol of the politics of hatred” of both the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), its parent organization that wants India to become “a Hindu nation.”

“We are going through a period of great injustice. Injustice against the people of Manipur, the traditions of Manipur, but also injustice across the nation,” he told the media.

India has seen a rise in violence against minorities, including Christians, since Modi came to power in 2014.

“A vision of unity will emerge during the 66 days [of the walkathon] and it will have no place for hatred, violence, and monopoly,” Gandhi said.

The 53-year-old Congress leader will conclude his walkathon in Mumbai, the nation’s financial capital located on its west coast.
Last year, Gandhi staged a 4,080-kilometer walkathon from Kanyakumari in the south to Kashmir in the north to unite the nation’s people.

This article is originally published on https://www.ucanews.com/news/indian-church-leaders-hail-manipur-unity-event/103830