Hindu Christian Clashes in Manipur Spirals Out of Control?
Northeast India. Courtesy Wikipedia.
June 16, 2023
It has been seven weeks since clashes first erupted between Hindu and Christian tribals in Manipur. On Tuesday, nine people were shot dead in a hours-long gun battle in a village in the northeastern Indian state.
So far more than 100 - Christians and Hindus - have been killed in the clashes and in gunfire by the security forces. Women and girls have been raped, more than 45,000 people have been displaced from their homes and over 1,700 houses, churches, and temples have been destroyed.
The Manipur government is run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which rules India with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. The BJP won elections in Manipur due to the support of Meitei tribals, who are Hindus and who account for slighlty more than half of the state’s 3.7 million population.
The Meitei, who live mostly in the valley that includes the state capital Imphal, have long sought Scheduled Tribe status. This would enable them to qualify for government jobs and jobs at government-run institutions, including banks and insurance companies, as well as seats in medical, engineering, and other educational institutions, which are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Overall, in India, 7% of government jobs and education seats are set aside for ST candidates and an additional 15% for Scheduled Castes. The Meitei have been given Scheduled Caste status. But they also want the ST status since its easier to qualify for jobs and education seats reserved for ST candidates.
Policy and media analysts point out that granting ST status to the Meitei would mean fewer jobs and education seats for Kukis, Nagas and other tribals who currently qualify as ST candidates.
The Kukis, 90% of whom are Christians, and other tribes account for roughly 40% of Manipur’s population. The Kukis live largely in the hilly areas surrounding Imphal, where only they can buy land.
The Kukis are fearful that the Meitei, once granted ST status, will be allowed to buy land in the hilly areas. As it is, Kuki leaders say that efforts to survey reserved forests in the hill regions, conducted as a way to reduce poppy cultivation, has resulted in evictions in Kuki villages.
The Hindu Christian violence began on May 3, after the Manipur High Court asked the state government to recommend Scheduled Tribe status for the Meitei. A Meitei group had petitioned the court to issue the order.
A Kuki member of the state legislature then filed a petition asking the Supreme Court of India to stay the Manipur High Court order, arguing that the Meteis are not tribals. Also, ten Kuki legislators, seven of whom are from the BJP, have demanded a separate administration for the hill regions of Manipur.
As part of its efforts to end the violence, Manipur’s BJP government has imposed a curfew, suspended internet services and given security forces orders to shoot at sight those indulging in violence and arson. Modi’s government has sent 30,000 army and other security forces to patrol the state. However, the violence continues.
As has become evident during the clashes, both the Kuki and Meitei activists have guns. In addition to guns, there is trafficking in opium and other drugs, smuggled gold as well as humans in Manipur.
According to media reports, since the clashes began, more than a thousand rifles were looted by mobs from the armories of police and security forces in Manipur. The mobs also reportedly looted AK-47 machine guns, grenades, tear gas shells and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Last month, in a letter sent to India’s bishops, Fr. Varghese Velikakam, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Imphal, said local police failed to stop the attacks. The spate of attacks on church buildings, he added, suggests that the violence was “pre-meditated” and spurred on by “fanatical” groups.
As one commentator pointed out, “Though the real decision-making in the conflict lies with those who control the guns, drugs and politics, the ones most affected in both the communities are women and children.”
Christian bishops in Manipur have repeatedly asked leaders of the Kuki and Meitei to “find ways of peaceful coexistence…Both communities…know their destinies are intertwined.”
Manipur is in a remote part of Northeastern India, which itself is connected by a narrow land corridor to India. Manipur shares a nearly 250-mile border with Myanmar. The Kukis are of the same ethnic lineage as Myanmar’s Chin community.
India and China share a 2,100-mile-long border and the two armies clashed briefly in December last year. China claims that large parts of India’s northeast, especially the state of Arunachal Pradesh which it calls “South Tibet”, is part of China.
Given the potential threat from China, Prime Minister Modi’s government needs to quickly and amicably resolve the Hindu Christian conflict in Manipur. Otherwise, in addition to Kashmir which borders Pakistan, there will be a second vital border state torn apart by religious conflict.
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