Statement
May 16, 2023, Washington DC.
The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations is greatly troubled by the large-scale assault on the Christian churches and homes in the Northeastern Indian State of Manipur during the first week of May by the Hindu nationalist BJP government-supported militia.
The Federation has reasons to believe that it was a well-planned, coordinated attack by the party in government against the Christian population of the state. The attack has all the markings of the Hindu nationalist campaign seen in previous violent campaigns carried out by the BJP party and its mother organization, the RSS, in Gujarat 2002, Odisha 2008, and Delhi 2020.
In all these cases, government authority was used to facilitate and protect the Hindu militia while the police were ordered to stand down for the duration of violence. During this government-sponsored violence, on May 3rd and the 4th, over 200 churches and over 500 homes of the Christians were burned by the BJP militia. The violence has forced more than 23,000 people to flee their homes. Initial reports indicate that the police were actively supporting the militia providing them tactical support.
FIACONA strongly condemns the violence perpetrated by the ruling party on its Christian population. FIACONA urges the US Administration to see this for what it is and not buy into the Modi government’s talking points.
FIACONA believes that the BJP government is using pre-existing ethnic tension in society to create religious violence against the Christian population.
“For the peace and prosperity of a nation, the government in power should honor the religious and personal rights of all people and safeguard the freedom of the press. Any country that violates these basic principles of democracy will spiral down the path of self-destruction.”
Chronology of Events:
The BJP government of Manipur ordered all Kuki/Zomi/Naga people in the Hill districts to surrender their firearms in January/February of 2023. The order was not implemented for the Meitei people in the Valley. The BJP government justified the policy by saying it was part of demilitarizing the population in a phased manner.
In February 2023, the BJP state government started evicting Tribal people from their land, calling them encroachers.
On 11 April 2023, three churches were demolished by the government in the capital city of Imphal that belonged to Kuki Tribes, calling them illegal constructions.
On 20 April 2023, the Manipur High Court advised the state government to consider a request of the Meitei people to be included in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list, which will allow them to buy/own Tribal lands triggering unrest. (Non-Tribals are Constitutionally prohibited from buying or owning Tribal lands.)
On May 3rd, the All Tribal Student Union of Manipur (ATSUM), held a Tribal Solidarity March to register their opposition to the court directive.
False rumors were sent out claiming the marchers killed three Meitei triggering large-scale violence across the state. Meitei militias loyal to the BJP government raided the police armory and looted all firearms. Militias brought from neighboring states went about targeting Christian homes and churches across the state. Eyewitnesses confirm that the attackers were not burning random properties. They had lists of targets with them.
Police were ordered by the BJP government leaders to stand down. Kuki/Zomi/Naga Christians in the Imphal Valley and Hill districts could not defend themselves as they had already surrendered their firearms to the government.
The BJP government asked police to maintain order and bring down the violence on May 5th after two whole days of mayhem.
While the BJP government maintains that it was purely an ethnic conflict between different tribes over the issue of land, the Hindu nationalist spokespersons are claiming that it was an attack on Hindus by Christians in the state. But this argument could not explain who burnt 198 churches belonging to the Meitei people if Kuki/Zomi/Naga Christians attacked the Hindus over land rights.
Background: Manipur is a border state sharing its boundaries with Myanmar. In 1949, the Kingdom of Manipur became a part of the Indian Union out of compulsion. However, several armed groups have disputed such a merger.
Manipur has several major ethnic groups. The prominent among them are the Meitei (53%), the Naga (24%), and Kuki/Zomi Tribes, making up about 16% of the population. Meitei people live mostly in the Valley and used to be the region’s ruling class. Kuki/Zomi/Naga Tribes live mostly in Hill districts.
As per the Constitution of India, Kuki/Zomi/Naga are identified as Tribal people with protected status. Non-Tribal people, including Meitei, are not allowed to purchase the land that belongs to Tribal people. About 90% of the land in the state of Manipur belongs to the Tribal population, and the Meitei people own approximately 10% of the land in the Valley.
Meitei people are predominantly identified as Hindu, with about 3% Christian whereas almost all Tribal populations are identified as Christian. Among the state’s total population, about 41% are Hindus, 41% are Christian, and 7% follow the traditional Sanamahi faith.
Manipur is governed by the Hindu nationalist BJP party of Prime Minister Modi.
