Verghese V Joseph –
Bengaluru: The north-eastern state of Manipur has experienced unprecedented levels of violence and turmoil in recent weeks.
The Archbishop of Imphal (Capital of Manipur), Most Rev. Dominic Lumon, has raised a relief plea for the suffering people in Manipur. The initiative is to reach out to the people and help them return to normal life.
The appeal, made through the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), has been sent out to every diocese across the country to generously contribute to the Archdiocese of Imphal as soon as possible.
To address some of the immediate needs such as food, water, toiletries, clothes, bedspreads, sanitary materials, etc., generous contributions can be made and channelised through to the following account:
A/C. Name: DSSS – Archdiocesan Emergency Relief Fund
A/C No: 920020064712698
IFSC Code: UTIB0000657
Bank: AXIS Bank, Imphal Branch
Parallel, some rehabilitative measures planned are placing displaced people in their normal habitat, establishing livelihood support, providing educational support to the children; providing care for the elderly, women, and children; setting up confidence-building measures, driving peace initiatives and communal harmony.
The Current Situation
According to the Archdiocese of Imphal, Since May 3, unprecedented violence and unrest have taken the State of Manipur like storm. “The Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Imphal, Manipur, is pained, saddened, and most of all concerned at the unfolding situation. Precious lives have been lost, houses burned or destroyed, belongings vandalised and looted, and places of worship desecrated and set ablaze. Thousands have been displaced and rendered homeless and languished in different shelters in military barracks and relief camps. Many have left the capital Imphal and the state to safer places. Those in the hills belonging to the valley communities, in panic, had to rush back to the valley. Summarily, there is fear, uncertainty and a general sense of hopelessness and desperation.”
Two communities are warring, but it has affected all the people of Manipur irrespective of which community one belongs. With the complexity of issues that have given rise to this situation, there is no clear-cut reason for the present crisis. Many lives have been lost, and villages/hamlets in the foothills have been vandalised, looted and torched.
Thousands have fled their homes and have reached some shelter camps. There are about 45000 people in relief camps in the valley and the hills. Around 13,800 in Imphal West, 11,800 in Imphal East, 4,500 in Bishnupur, 5,500 in Churachandpur, and 7,000 people in Kangpokpi district. The government has evacuated quite many to a safe destination as of now. This information’s based on the daily newspapers and our own information. The actual number could be more.
While the situation continues to simmer in Manipur as nearly 5,800 people in violence-hit Manipur have taken shelter in different districts of the neighbouring Mizoram state.
5,822 people in the Chin-Kuki-Mizo community have lodged in temporary relief camps across six districts of Mizoram.
The officials added that the Aizawl district currently has the highest number of displaced people at 2,021, followed by Kolasib (1,847) and Saitual (1,790)
Church Response: Too Little, Too Late
Meanwhile, a forum of Catholic members has written an open letter to the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India on the alleged acts of violence against Christians and Christian institutions in Manipur during the recent ethnic violence in the state and the church’s muted response to it.
The Forum of Religious for Justice and Peace wrote that they were “shocked and distressed at the recent violence in Manipur.”
The Forum’s national convenor Dorothy Fernandes PBVM, national treasurer Anand Mathew IMS, and national secretary Antony F. Thekkiniyath OFM CAP noted its disappointment with the “lukewarm response of the official Church to the increasing violence against Christians ever since Narendra Modi came to power and even the appreciation of the BJP government at the centre by some bishops.”
The Forum noted that Cardinal George Alencherry had also allegedly made the statement that “Christians are safe under the Modi regime.” This announcement came as Bengaluru Archbishop Peter Machado and two Christian organisations filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court against attacks on Christians.
“Within two months, the two Archbishops accorded a cordial welcome to PM Narendra Modi, at the Sacred Heart Cathedral Church, New Delhi, on April 9, 2023, the Occasion of Easter. The heads of different Churches, including Cardinal Alenchery, met with PM Modi during his recent visit to Kerala. On both occasions, the bishops failed to raise the issue of increasing violence against Christians and attacks on their churches and institutions,” the Corum observed.
The Forum writes that Christians are “highly confused during this crisis period because of the ambivalent, confusing and even contradicting statements” from church leaders.
In contrast, the heads of the Telugu Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Poola Anthony and the Archbishop of Bangalore, Peter Machado “had the courage and compassion to condemn the rampant violence in Manipur targeting the Christian tribals and to remind the Central and State government of their responsibility” to protect the lives and properties of people and foster religious tolerance.