Srinagar, September 30, 2023 (PPI-OT):A peace activist has described the situation in the violence-hit Indian state of Manipur the “extreme culpability” of a partisan state.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the activist, Harsh Mander, during his visit to Manipur, which convulsed in ethnic and religious violence since May, met Meitei and Kuki families broken by the ethnic violence. Hundreds of Meiteis and Kikis live in camps in despair unsure if they will ever return to their scorched villages.
In the state of 3.2 million people, Meiteis are mostly Vaishnavite Hindus who make up more than half the population and live in the Imphal valley, while the Christian Kukis are far fewer and live in the hill districts.
Over 200 people, majority of them Kiki Christians, have died in the violence in Manipur with a BJP government being run by the BJP for the past six years. The ethnic violence erupted after the Kukis protested the judgement of the Manipur High Court, telling the state government to consider including the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes’ list.
Harsh Mander described the situation in Manipur the “extreme culpability” of a seemingly partisan state that has done little to help the minority Christians who have been killed and uprooted in greater numbers.
Mander said in all his years as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and then as an activist had never seen anything like the recent events in Manipur, which he said was engaged in a civil war. The partisan role of the state government, the abdicating of responsibilities to help the minority, and the central government’s silence, was similar to the Gujarat riots in 2002, where Muslims were targeted and suffered disproportionately. But the weapons being used in Manipur were more modern and deadlier.
Many people believe that Biren Singh, the 62-year-old chief minister of the state and a Meitei, has played a partisan role in the ethnic conflict that has caused tragic loss of life, displacement, and deep anguish for those whose loved ones have been killed and their homes set on fire by the warring factions.
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