Kuki Diaspora Speaks Out: UN Event on Manipur's Human Rights Crisis

The World Evangelical Alliance, on behalf of a coalition of NGOs successfully hosted United Nations Human Rights Council side event entitled “The Crisis in Manipur and Implications for Human Rights in India” on Tuesday, September 19, in Geneva, Switzerland. Among the panelists was Florence N.Lowe, a Kuki Diaspora from the USA, founding member and President of North American Manipur Tribal Association (NAMTA). Mrs. Lowe vehemently and outrightly spoke about the plight of the Kukis and condemned the atrocities committed by the Meiteis and the Manipur Government. Mr. Nury Turkel, Commissioner, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom(UCIRF) in a pre-recorded video talked about the atrocities committed against the Kukis in the form of lynching, cold blooded murdering , sexual assaults, extra judicial killings, vandalism and burning of churches and synagogues. Mr.Turkel also mentioned the widespread dissemination of disinformation and hate speech which became the catalyst for vigilantism, and instigating the Meitei mob to take law and order into their own hands. He also mentioned that UCIRF and UN are quite aware of the ground realities and urges the Indian government to act. Mr. Turkel condemned the filing of FIR against EGI and staunchly advocated for Freedom of Press. The commissioner even said that UCIRF has been urging the Biden Administration to list India as Country of Particular Concern (CPC)for its ‘systematic and ongoing religious freedom violation’.

While the commissioner is laudable for his support and advocation for peace and justice for the Kukis in India, mention maybe made that the ongoing violence is not entirely a religious issue. The Radicalised Meiteis under the banner of Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun with the cover of the State government under N.Biren Singh launch an ethnic cleansing porgrom against the Kukis. The 140 plus martyrs especially those who were hunted and butchered like wild animals in the capital city died because they were Kukis. The two women in the viral video including Florence and Olivia where physically and sexually abused not because they were Christians but because they were Kuki Women. And those churches were vandalised and razed to the ground because they were Kuki Churches. Churches belonging to other Communities were untouched.

During the Question-and-Answer session, Kh. Athouba, Spokesperson of COCOMI, instead of asking questions gave wrong information on the following facts:

CLAIM 1: Meiteis are not majority in Manipur.
FACT: If it is so, how is it that there are 40 Meitei MLAs in a 60-Member Manipur Legislative Assembly. According to 2011 census ST and SC Population in Manipur is 35.1% and 3.8 % respectively. Take note that most Meiteis are included in SC and OBC as well. Even if we include SC, the Meitei population percentage in Manipur in 2011 is still 61.1. And only a small percentage of them follows Christianity.

CLAIM 2: Meiteis never targeted Christians.
FACT: Meiteis started attacking Churches in the valley to gain support from extremist Hindu groups. Video evidence of the Arambai Tenggol militias vandalising a Meitei Church in Bishnupur District; putting up of Meitei traditional flag atop Churches after vandalising in Imphal is available.

CLAIM 3: Lamka (Churachandpur) is the new ‘hub’ of Golden Triangle
FACT: Successful narco-groups are always managed and handled by big organisations. Calling Lamka as a new hub is a misnomer because all the Kingpins and drug lords are Imphal based who have close ties with the state government. A former MPS officer have unearthed the deep nexus between Meitei Chief Minister N Biren Singh and drug lords operating in Manipur.

CLAIM 4: 19 Churches belonging to the Meiteis were vandalised in Lamka.
FACT: Churches were never targeted in Lamka or other Hills Districts during the current violence or before. No Christians would ever imagine targeting their own Church. In fact, Meitei Christians are safer with the Kukis than with the Meiteis.

Kh. Athouba and COCOMI is a prime example of what Mehdi Hasan in his Oxford Union Debate said “..a farrago of distortions, misrepresentations, misinterpretations and misquotations”. Sensing this, the moderator Wissam al-Saliby asked him to submit the facts after the seminar and continue the discussion after the event. To which Athouba disregard the decorum of the event and disrespectfully heckled the panellists and the moderator making it very uncomfortable for the audience and viewers alike.

The participants were too aware that Mr Athouba attempted to play the victim card. Even if the Meiteis have succeeded in selling their concocted narratives to some bigwigs in the political sphere out of ‘political consideration’ the world already knows that it was them who perpetuated the violence. Independent international bodies such as the UN are more than aware of the ground realities.

It is bad enough that the Meiteis hunted, butchered, and chased us away from Manipur; they would not even let us share our stories and grievances peacefully to the United Nations Human Rights Council.