Palm Sunday was celebrated with fervour among displaced Kukis in Manipur, the north-eastern Indian state that has been grappling with serious ethnic violence since last May.
In several places, churches were too small to contain everyone, forcing some worshippers to participate in the service outside. “Even in parishes where there are a large number of refugees – for example Don Bosco Parish in Churachandpur and St Mary’s Parish in Tuibong (Chura-chandpur), churches were packed for Psalm Sunday liturgi-cal services,” said Fr Varghese Velickakam, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Imphal and coordinator of the relief and rehabilitation committee. “The situation is slowly settling down,” Fr Velickakam told AsiaNews, as this day of celebration offered an important sign that things were getting back to normal.
“The refugees are already in the separate area,” the clergyman explained. “We are trying to rehabilitate them. Construction is going on. Support is coming from different parts of the country and from their own community.”