Manipur violence ‘genocide’, ‘another version of Gujarat riots’: Kerala Archbishop Joseph Pamplany

Archbishop Joseph Pamplany hit out at the BJP governments in the Centre and Manipur for failing to ‘quench the violence’ and alleged that Christians were being singled out and attacked.

The Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Catholic Church on Thursday said the violence in Manipur has “turned into a genocide” and developed into “another version” of the 2002 Gujarat riots, with Christians being singled out and attacked.

“There seems to be a concerted effort behind the riots. People have apprehension that the government is shielding those behind the riots,” Archbishop Joseph Pamplany, one of the core members of the Synod of the Catholic Church in Kerala, said on Thursday, addressing the media in Kannur.

“The violence in Manipur has turned into a genocide. Both the Centre and the state governments have failed in quenching the violence. The tension in Manipur has turned into a genocide which is unheard of in the history of the country. It has developed into another version of the riots in Gujarat,” the archbishop said.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent statement in the US that there is no discrimination in India, the archbishop said the Prime Minister should have made that comment looking at the face of the people of Manipur.

Pamplany also referred to the Uniform Civil Code, saying its details should be made subject to public debate. “Within the Hindu community itself, there is diversity in rituals and practices. Hence, the government should subject the matter to democratic discussions so that people can understand what is being proposed to be implemented. Its details should be presented in the legislative assemblies and thus be brought into the public domain,” the archbishop said.

Pamplany’s attack is being seen as a growing disenchantment of the Catholic Church in Kerala with the BJP in the wake of the Manipur crisis. Months before the Manipur violence broke out, Pamplany had openly stated that the Christian community was ready to back BJP in Kerala in the elections provided the Centre helped improve the fortunes of rubber farmers in the state.

At a farmers’ meeting organised by the Catholic laymen association All Kerala Catholic Congress in Kannur in March, Pamplany had said, “…we can tell the central government… (if) you buy rubber from farmers at Rs 300 per kg, whatever your party, we are ready to vote for you … The settler farmers will solve the BJP’s grouse that they do not have an MP in Kerala.”

Enthused by the stand of the archbishop, which was attested by other prelates in the Church, the BJP had also conducted a lot of outreach programmes in Kerala during the Easter season in April.

This article was published on indianexpress.com