Indigenous Christian leaders have called on the government to restore peace instead of distributing cash to build new houses for victims of the sectarian strife in northeastern Manipur where Christians fight Hindus.
The real problem is “restoring pace,” noted a Church leader from Manipur where a 15-month-long conflict over conferring tribal status on the majority Meitei Hindu community has claimed more than 226 lives and uprooted over 60,000 people, most of them Christians.
The unprecedented violence that began on May 3, 2023, has hit more than 18,370 families, of which more than 14,800 of them have taken shelter in relief camps, Chief Minister N Biren Singh of Manipur told the state assembly. On Aug 5, Singh informed the assembly about the decision to distribute Rs 100,000 (US$1,191) to victims to build new houses. The Catholic Church has a diocese in Manipur, based in the state capital Imphal, and headed by Archbishop Linus Neli. Indigenous people mostly Christians make up 41 percent of the state’s 3.2 million people and Meitei Hindus form 53 percent. There are Christians among the Meiteis, too. Unless “peace is restored no such announcement will be of any use,” the Church leader who did not want to be named due to security reasons told UCA News on Aug. 6. “Obviously, everyone wants to have a home. People in Manipur are asking for a dignified life back in their villages from where they fled,” he added. The government needs to create an environment that will enable them to return to their homes, the Church leader said.
They have been living in relief camps for over a year with “no individual identity,” he noted. The chief minister announced the cash to build houses. But what will they do with it “unless there is peace in the state?” asked a tribal Christian leader. Singh, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is accused of orchestrating the violence and protecting those behind it. According to government data, 11,133 houses have been set on fire, and 4,569 of them were completely gutted. Singh told the assembly that there are 12,977 boys and 13,763 girls living in government-run relief camps. The violence broke out between the wealthy Meiteis and the minority Kukiz-Zo community last year after the top court in the state asked the government to consider granting tribal status on Hindus. According to indigenous people, if the court’s request is implemented it would rob them of their share in the government’s affirmative action plan. Above all, their inclusion will allow them to purchase indigenous lands, which are mostly located in the hilly districts in the state, they complain. Indigenous people who live in the hilly districts of the picturesque state have stated categorically that they have lost trust in Singh as he is backing the Meitei community, of which he is a member. They are insisting on his removal as chief minister to restore peace in Manipur.