Image: Illustration by Christianity Today / Source Images: Getty
Left: Villagers inspect the debris of a ransacked church that was set on fire by a mob in Manipur. Right: Manipuri pray for peace.
Since the beginning of May, more than 180 people have lost their lives in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. Most of these victims are Christians from the minority Kuki-Zo tribe and, in turn, thousands from these communities have fled from the violence for shelter in other parts of the state or country.
Manipur is a hill-locked state with a fertile valley in the middle. The Meiteis occupy the valley districts, whereas the hill districts are the ancestral home of the various tribal communities, predating the British colonial administration. Both the hill districts and the tribal people are protected under a special act of the Indian Constitution that restricts land ownership in tribal areas.
The current conflict began after the tribal community’s peaceful protest against the Meiteis’ efforts to become a “scheduled tribe” (which would also give them access to this hill land) was met with violent retaliation by a radical Meitei mob. The violence was further fueled by explosive lies spread purportedly by the Meitei community themselves, which quickly spread to the state capital, Imphal. Violent mobs started ransacking tribal houses, churches, educational institutions, and hospitals, and attacking people, including women and children.
I am a pastor with the Evangelical Baptist Convention, and the following is an account of one of our pastors in Imphal who shared with me his experiences when the violence first unfolded.
On the afternoon of May 3, 2023, we received news of clashes between the tribal community and the Meiteis in a village about 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) outside Imphal, the city we lived in. We were shocked but we did not expect the violence to escalate so quickly. Instead, like any other Wednesday night, we went to church, where we regularly gathered to pray for our missionaries and their mission fields.
At around 8:30 p.m., after the church service concluded, we heard reports that several churches in Imphal had been burned down. There are two living quarters within our church compound—mine and the caretaker’s. We quickly gathered our families and moved from there to what we thought would be a safer place. But soon we could hear mobs shouting and houses burning outside. We spent the night in terror that they would discover where we had hid.
The next morning, we returned with our families to our quarters in the church compound and ate breakfast. But by 10 a.m., we could hear men shouting and destroying houses again. By that time, most tribal people in our area had fled their homes. Some had already lost their lives in the hands of the bloodthirsty mob.
