Bishop Prince Antony

Today India’s soul is deeply wounded! Shameful and shocking videos of barbaric acts carried out against two women on May 4 have now surfaced from Manipur, which has been burning for more than two months.
Two helpless women were paraded naked surrounded by a devilish mob and sexually assaulted by perverts in this sacred land, where a mother is to be revered like God! It is loathing, disgusting and abominable to say the least. It is a blatant violation of human rights.
The public demonstration of such a heinous crime manifests the height of the lawlessness prevailing in the region. The fact that, even after two months, the clearly identifiable perpetrators of this horrific crime are not yet brought to justice adds to the gravity of the situation.
The odious crime carried out in public and its video shooting pose serious threat to the democracy and law and order in the country. The scary shouts and laughs of the offenders are insult to the sacred constitution of India. It deserves to be condemned by all responsible citizens of India regardless of differences lest it be repeated in any other part of the country.
Lack of immediate and stringent measures on the part of the central and state governments and the police department, I believe, amounts to adding fuel to the violence in Manipur. Even the best explanations of the concerned authorities fail to convince the common man that no religious factors are at play in the prolonged violence in the state. It is religious persecution in every sense.
The number of Christians died and displaced and the churches destroyed is obvious evidence to state that Christians are targeted. The ill-intended attempts to describe the present violence just as the result of ethnic clashes offer the persecutors an excuse to continue violence unabashedly.
After all, can violence be tolerated in the name ethnic clashes? Even if it is an ethnic clash, should it not be stopped? It is ridiculous that the police play the role of mute spectators in Manipur, while the lawbreakers unleash brutality. Violence in any form has to be stopped. Violence can never be justified in the name of caste, tribe or religion.
The plight of Christians in Manipur is a serious concern, not only for the Christians but for the entire nation as well. Atrocities against any group in the name of religion are clear violation of the rights enshrined in the constitution of India.
Christians in India, like any other citizens, have the fundamental right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion. Being Christian in no way reduces patriotism. Christian faith urges loyalty to the homeland and respect for its leaders.
While millions of Indians are peacefully living in foreign countries practising their own religions, why can Indian Christians not live peacefully in their homeland practising their religion? It is really heartbreaking that very little is said by the media and national and state leaders about the human rights violation and Christian persecution in Manipur.
As a legal maxim states, “justice delayed is justice is denied”. The unexplainable silence of the concerned authorities in the face of outright violation of human rights and constitutional rights in Manipur seems to betray an unholy alliance of vested interests. Political gains cannot be sought at the cost of the innocent lives.
Man-made sufferings of the people of Manipur, I believe, cause millions of Indians sleepless nights. What wrong have those who lost life done? What wrong have those displaced done? What is the wrong done by those helpless women brutally harassed, assaulted and gangraped? They are crying for justice. Their cry is reverberating across the country.
As a faithful Christian and a proud Indian citizen, I vehemently condemn the human rights violation and Christian persecution in Manipur and do appeal to the fellow citizens to do the same and request both central and state governments to stop violence in Manipur with unwavering fidelity and loyalty to the constitution of India. “Let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24)!