253 churches burnt down during continuing unrest in Manipur: Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a conglomerate of recognised tribes in Churachandpur district, on Monday, said that 253 churches had been burnt down during the continuing unrest in Manipur.

The ITLF made the claim in a memorandum submitted to governor Anusuiya Uikey, who visited Churachandpur, about 60km from Imphal, on Monday.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a conglomerate of recognised tribes in Churachandpur district, on Monday, said that 253 churches had been burnt down during the continuing unrest in Manipur.

The ITLF made the claim in a memorandum submitted to governor Anusuiya Uikey, who visited Churachandpur, about 60km from Imphal, on Monday.

Churachandpur is one of the worst-affected districts in the violence, which began on May 3 after a solidarity rally was held in the 10 hill districts opposing the majority Meiteis’ demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Over 100 people have died and 50,698 have been displaced in clashes between the largely Hindu Meiteis and mostly Christian Kukis.

The ITLF said that even on Monday, one person had died in an attack on a Churachandpur village.

“The Kuki-Zo people have been enduring one of the most challenging phases in our history as a result of the ethnic cleansing campaign by the Meiteis and the communal government of Manipur,” the three-page ITLF memorandum to the governor alleged.

“In the state-sponsored pogrom against our people since May 3, we have lost as many as 100 precious lives and many more dead remain unaccounted for. Besides, about 4,500 houses in 160 villages have been burned down, thereby rendering about 36,000 people homeless.”

The memorandum, issued by ITLF chairman Pagin Haokip and secretary Muan Tombing, added: “Significantly, 253 churches were burnt down and thousands of our people are relocating to various places across the country.”

This was the governor’s first visit to Churchandpur since she took charge in February, an ITLF leader said.

With the memorandum, the ITLF enclosed a list of the dead and the churches, administrative buildings and quarters of churches, and villages that have been torched since the unrest began.

It also provided a list of relief centres and “photos showing the involvement of the state leaders with the Arambai Tenggol”.

The Arambai Tenggol is a Meitei organisation that Kukis have accused of being involved in the unrest. A media report last month said the organisation had been dissolved.

Asked about the church properties destroyed, Ginza Vualzong from the ITLF’s media and publicity wing said in a text message that 93 church administrative buildings and quarters had been burnt along with churches “mainly in the Imphal valley and boundary areas”.

Meiteis dominate the six Imphal valley districts while the 10 hill districts are home largely to tribal people, mostly Nagas and Kukis.

Allen Brooks, a member of the United Christian Forum of North East India, told The Telegraph that the figures originating from the sites of violence were “very huge and very tragic”. “We believe these (numbers) are true because these have been substantiated by organisations that are on the ground. But the question is not about one church being burnt or 1,000 churches being burnt, the question is about the security of the people and the secular fabric of the country that is at stake,” the Guwahati-based Brooks said.

The ITLF added that it “cannot” accept chief minister N. Biren Singh as a member of the peace committee constituted by the Union home ministry on June 10 as he “cannot be considered impartial in matters concerning the Kuki-Zo community”.

Brooks said that with churches facing large-scale destruction and desecration, the Christian community of the Northeast “feels let down” and is “deeply dismayed and astonished by the non-inclusion” of Church leaders from Manipur in the peace committee, where they could have presented “their views and concerns”. The governor is the committee chairperson.

The ITLF alleged in the memorandum that the attacks on tribal people and territory were “continuing unabated” in areas bordering the Meitei settlements in the valley.

Most Meitei organisations have countered the allegations by accusing Kuki militants of fuelling the unrest. These Meitei organisations also assert that narco-terrorists have been entering Manipur from Myanmar and creating trouble for the state’s indigenous people.

The ITLF alleged that the demands conveyed to Union home minister Amit Shah during his visit to the state last month (May 29 to June 1) had not been met.

“We asked for better security to safeguard our lives and villages, yet as many as 55 villages were burnt, more than 11 lives were lost,” it said.

Published by : The Telegraph Online