(CP) Twenty people have died prior to now two weeks as ethnoreligious violence resurges in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, where Christians and Hindus remain locked in a devastating conflict that has displaced greater than 60,000 people since May 2023.
The latest outbreak of violence between the bulk Hindu Meiteis and minority Christian Kukis has shattered hopes for peace within the region, with churches burned, children killed and security forces struggling to take care of order. The conflict has effectively segregated the 2 communities, forcing 50,000 Kuki Christians to flee the Imphal valley and 10,000 Meiteis to desert their homes in Kuki-majority areas.
The recent surge of violence erupted in Jiribam, near the Assam border, after a series of retaliatory killings that began with the murder of a young Kuki woman present in a river. Tensions escalated dramatically after the Christian teacher and mother of three was killed and burned in an attack by Meiteis, resulting in a deadly confrontation between armed Kukis and security forces that left 10 Kuki assailants dead.
The situation deteriorated further when six Meiteis, including three children, were found dead on Nov. 16. In response, protesters torched Kuki homes and 6 churches in Jiribam, while mobs within the state capital of Imphal burned government officials’ residences. Authorities have imposed curfews, suspended web access and closed schools.
“People live in fear and tension. They do not know what is going to occur next,” a senior Meitei church leader in Imphal told Global Christian Relief.
The handling of the deceased has develop into one other flashpoint. When security forces airlifted the bodies of the ten Kuki Christians to Churuchandpur for burial, government delays in releasing the bodies prompted an unprecedented protest. On Nov. 19, a whole bunch of black-clad mourners marched through Churuchandpur carrying empty coffins to honor the dead and protest their killing.
Critics have targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his absence from the region throughout the crisis, noting that his Hindu nationalist BJP party, which governs Manipur, has did not restore peace. “Though one and a half years have gone since Manipur slipped into anarchy, no effective and serious effort has been made to revive law and order,” said a senior journalist in Imphal.
A church leader within the region expressed the community’s growing frustration: “We had been praying for lasting peace and were feeling relaxed. But this latest conflict has shattered the peace to which Manipur was returning. While many are struggling for his or her livelihoods, the curfew has only worsened their situation.”
