On May 3 this year, Koireng (identified only by his first name) first heard reports that an unidentified group had set fire to a famous war memorial. As pastor Meitei in Churachandpur, a district in the Indian state of Manipur, Koireng was alarmed by the news that arson had escalated into large-scale property destruction.
Tensions have been growing for weeks between the Kuki-Zo, a predominantly Christian tribal community, and the Meitei, the largest and largely Hindu ethnic group in Manipur. Over the next few weeks, crowds burned dozens of houses, sending hundreds of Churachandpur residents into the forest for shelter, and retaliatory attacks killed two civilians the first day of violence. (The current total number of deaths Is at least 180, after six months of intermittent violence.)
At the start of the year, a number of different communities, including Christian Meiteis, Hindu Meitis and Kuki-Zo, resided in Churachandpur, which was also home to 21 Meitei churches, said Koireng, pastor of the Free Evangelical Church of India. (EFCI) in Churachandpur.
Koireng had heard that Kuki-Zo mobs spared churches, but not Meitei Christian houses.
“They recognized Meitei Christian houses from non-Christian houses, but they also burned down all the houses,” said Koireng, who quickly called on all his church members to gather inside his church to stay together .
The attacks outside Churachandpur and in the capital Imphal were instigated by Meitei mobs and led thousands of Kuki-Zo to flee their homes and the area. Since then, Christians like Koireng have found themselves in a bind: they cannot turn to their ethnic kin or fellow Christians for any sense of solidarity.
“We are the real victims, not the Kuki-Zo Christians or the Meitei Hindu community,” said O. Kumar, president of Manipur Council of Meitei Christian Churches (MCCCM).
Few churches spared
During the United Nations General Assembly in September, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) hosted a virtual side event discuss violence in Manipur. At the end of the event, a Meitei Hindu leader from India, who had not been invited to speak, interrupted the meeting, saying the panelists had painted a one-sided picture of the crisis.
“Meitei churches were completely vandalized and razed to the ground in areas dominated by Kuki-Christians in Churachandpur, from the first day (of the conflict) before violence broke out in Imphal,” said Khuraijam Athouba, spokesperson for the organization. controversial Manipur Integrity Group Coordination Committee.
Athouba’s claims were then widely disseminated on social media by trolls and bots, who also harassed the event’s moderator, Wissam al-Saliby (WEA director in Geneva), and panelist Florence N Lowe, founder of the North American Manipur Tribal Association and member of the group. Kuki-Zo ethnic group.
Nearly 250 Meitei churches have been burnt or vandalized in the Imphal valley since May, says Kumar. But in Churachandpur, the churches were spared that night and have been protected ever since.
As mentioned above, Koireng also disputes Athouba’s claims. After a harrowing night, on the morning of May 4, “I received a call from the army informing me that they are coming to escort us out of Churachandpur and that we will all be evacuated, Christians and non-Christians,” said Koireng, whose house was among those burned and who has been living in a relief camp ever since.
Kuki-Zo mobs burned 172 Christian homes in Meitei, said Witamsinbou Alex Newmai, a Christian from the Naga tribe who coordinated relief efforts for Christians in Meitei. He was troubled by the detail of the destruction, pointing out that the crowd used bulldozers and JCBs (large machines used for digging and moving earth) to raze the houses.
“At least the Kukis had a responsibility to allow safe passage to the Meiteis before things got out of hand, as mafia culture was growing on both sides. Unlike the Kukis who were massacred in the valley, there were no casualties from the Meiteis in the hills,” he said.
Simon Raomai, president of All Manipur Christian Organization (AMCO), says he has visited Churachandpur several times since May and has not seen any churches destroyed.
“Out of anger and rage, some miscreants may have just thrown a stone and broken a window or knocked on the wall, but the church buildings are still intact,” Raomai said.
He also advised against unconfirmed allegations that churches had been looted, burned or vandalized.
“The Kuki-Zo have disowned us”
Meitei Christians constitute only 1.06 percent of Manipur’s population, according to a 2011 census, while Meitei Hindus represent 53 percent of the total population.
Since the May attacks, the community has faced intimidation from non-Christian Meitei, who often harass them on social media, threatening them with death if they do not reconvert to Hinduism or Sanamahism, the indigenous Meitei faith, Newmai explains. Being Christians, they are perceived as being on the side of the Kuki-Zo and accused of violence against their own community (Meitei).
“We are no longer considered part of the Hindu Meitei and we are also not Kuki-Mizo tribes,” Kumar said. “We consider ourselves independent, but Meitei Hindus refer to us as Meitei tribes, trying to highlight our differences from the Meitei community and comparing us to the Kuki tribes.”
These prejudices led Meitei militants to attack Meitei Christian churches in the hill districts. In May, Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, two Meitei militant groups, attacked and vandalized Christian churches in Meitei, Kumar said.
“Most people in Meitei thought that all Christians in Meitei supported the Kukis, so they wanted to completely wipe out the Christian churches in Meitei,” said a leader on condition of anonymity.
The situation was further complicated by the fact that Meitei churches often included people from several ethnic backgrounds, including the Kuki-Zo, and were financially supported by Kuki-Zo and Naga Christians.
“They thought we would be more loyal to the Christian tribes than to the Meiteis,” he said.
“But when it came to considering us as their brothers and sisters in Christ, the Kuki-Zo disowned us and we had to leave the Kuki-Zo dominated area,” Kumar said.
Peace talks
In Imphal, leaders of the Naga Christian Forum and legal experts from the Meitei Hindu community came together to create the “Forum for Justice,” a movement dedicated to promoting peace and justice in the region.
In September, 20 leaders came together, including 9 representatives from the Naga Christian Forum to defend Meitei Christians.
“Because I am a Naga Christian, I can move freely in the hill and valley districts and start peace talks,” said Simon Raomai, the president of AMCO, who led the discussions.
Raomai provided a comprehensive account from the perspective of Meitei Christians, describing their difficulties and presenting startling statistics, including the shocking revelation that 249 Meitei churches were vandalized or burned.
The lawyers involved were surprised by this staggering figure, expressing their lack of awareness of the extent of the damage.
“We are trying to defend our Meitei brothers and hope to involve influential figures to convey our sentiments to Hindu Meiteis and fanatic groups,” Raomai said.
The Forum for Justice is scheduled to meet again on November 6 and plans to include Meitei Christians for its third meeting.
Nowhere to go
Before the May violence, more than 10,000 Meitei Christians lived in Churachandpur. Today, about 700 Christians from Meitei are living in relief camps because they have nowhere to go, said a Christian leader from Meitei who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.
Meitei Christians cannot return to their homes in Imphal or the valley districts without risking pressure from Meitei Hindus to renounce their faith. (Even within the camps, Meitei Christian leaders say Meitei militant groups have threatened both lay Christians and pastors with pressure to renounce their beliefs.) Relocation in the areas hilly areas of Manipur is also out of the question as the state is divided on ethnic lines due to precedent civil war.
In the aftermath of the May violence, Santi Kumar, a Meitei Christian from Churachandpur, suffered the devastating loss of his home and the Sunday school he ran for 30 years with his wife, Oinam Ibemcha, when Crowds burned it to the ground.
Deeply attached to his hometown, Kumar was nevertheless hesitant to return there.
“We are working on peace talks and when they reach an amicable conclusion, we will return to Churachandpur because it is our home,” Kumar said.
Currently, Kumar’s family and several other Meitei Christians from the hill districts continue to reside in relief camps, hoping that the government will take proactive steps to begin peace talks with Kuki leaders.
They are also waiting for government support to rebuild their homes.
As of September 1, more than 58,000 individuals (compared to 38,000 in May) lived in 351 relief camps across Manipur, including over 22,000 children and 300 people above 80 years of age. Around 24,000 of the camp’s occupants are from the Meitei community, but it is unclear how many of them are Christians.
“We wonder who will help the Christians of Meitei,” said O. Kumar. “When relief arrives for Christians, everything goes to the Christian areas of Kuki. When relief comes for the Meiteis, it all goes to the Hindu Meiteis, who claim that we Meiteis Christians are getting help from the Kuki-Zo Christians.
“It’s a double whammy for us because we are neglected and disrespected by both sides. »
