Christian leaders in northeastern Manipur state say houses of Christians, who fled to refugee camps, are burnt down

Arson and unrest refuse to subside in India’s northeastern Manipur state more than 50 days after an ethnic riot began there, forcing authorities to extend a ban on internet services until June 25.

“There are still reports of incidents like arson of houses and premises” in the violence-hit areas, said a state government note that announced the extension of the ‘internet ban.’

The unprecedented violence between Meitei and Kuki ethnic groups has already claimed some 115 lives and displaced over 50,000 people, mostly Kuki Christians.

“Abandoned houses of displaced Christians continued to be burnt down, apparently, in a planned attempt to erase their existence there,” a Catholic official told UCA News on June 21, seeking anonymity.

Pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is accused of supporting the idea of making India a Hindu nation, runs the Manipur state government.

The state banned internet services soon after the violence broke out between Hindu-majority Meitei people and Christian-majority Kuki people.

The violence began on May 3 when the Meitei people attacked a demonstration of the Kuki people, who were protesting a court proposal to grant special tribal status to the Meitei people.

The special status extends Meitei priority in government jobs, education, and other affirmative programs meant for the indigenous people such as the Kuki.

Even after seven weeks of violence, “it is still necessary to take adequate measures to maintain law and order in the public interest, by stopping the spread of disinformation and false rumors, through various social media platforms,” the government said in its June 19 order.

The government suspects social media is extensively used for the transmission of images, hate speech and hate video messages, inciting the passions of the public and hampering efforts to restore peace.

Churches burnt down

The Catholic Church in Manipur, according to an initial estimate, incurred a loss of some 250 million rupees (some US$3.1 million), which includes extensive damages to 10 Catholic churches, said the official.

In the initial days of violence, “some of the churches were burnt to ashes beyond repair,” the priest told UCA News.

The violent mobs not only destroyed churches but also other institutions on the campus, the Church official told UCA News on June 21.

“The priests and others who lived on the campus had to rush for shelter outside as their life was in danger. The mob also sought identity proof of those present to see if they were from Kuki indigenous group,” the priest said.

He said the police team, who were in the vicinity before the mob arrived, “were nowhere to be seen. All SOS calls to police went without any response.”

“Even after the first instance of attack, there was no security deployment leaving us vulnerable to further attacks and eventual destruction. Today when all is destroyed there is 24-hour deployment of police personnel,” he said.

Federal government silent

As the tension forces thousands to live in temporary camps, over 550 civil society groups in an open letter urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence over the sectarian violence.

The June 16 letter called for “an immediate stop to divisive politics by the state and security forces.”

It asked the Prime Minister “to break his deafening silence on the ongoing civil war in the hills and valleys of Manipur and for an immediate halt to this violence that is causing large scale disruption of lives, livelihoods and properties and unleashing even more terror among people.”

It said the violence has displaced more than 50,000 people, including women, and children. They now live in more than 300 refugee camps, the letter said.

“Manipur is burning today in very large part due to the divisive politics played by the BJP and its governments” that run the nation and the state. “And on them lies the onus to stop this ongoing civil war before more lives are lost,” it said.

Rights groups accuse the BJP governments of tacitly supporting hard-line Hindu groups, that violently oppose religious minorities in their attempt to establish Hindu hegemony.

In several northern states too, where BJP runs the government, Christians and Muslims complain of facing harassment from Hindu groups.

The violence against the Kukis has been perpetuated by “armed Meitei majoritarian groups” accompanied by “genocidal hate-speech and supremacist displays of impunity,” the open letter said.

Meiteis make up 53 percent and Kukis 41.29 percent of Manipur’s 3.2 million population.