Self-proclaimed ‘village volunteers’ are armed with weapons sourced from the black market and looted from police armouries.
There have been a few queries on the nature of this genocide. Let me confirm, the ongoing genocide in Manipur is both ethnic and religious.
It started off as an ethnic cleansing of Kukis by Meiteis, then it became both an communal and ethnic cleansing. The Meitei are mostly Hindu & Sanamahi (follower of Sanamahism). Their victims are Meitei Christains and Kukis (irrespective of faith).
In addition to Kukis, Meitei Christians have also been murdered by Meitei mobs. A Meitei mob led by the black-shirted Arambai Tenggol burned alive a Meitei Christian and her seriously injured half-Meitei half-Kuki 7 year-old son when they were in an ambulance on their way to hospital. Also, only churches that have been targeted & burnt, not Hindu temples.
There are 2 ultraviolent Meitei groups that have been actively involved in the violence since Day 1 of this genocide. Leaders of both are closely associated with Manipur’s CM Biren Singh.
One group/ gang is the Meitei Leepun who are openly Hindu supremacist and anti-Kuki. They are led by Hindu supremacist Pramot Singh who has made their mission to ‘wipe out Kukis’. The saffron scarf wearing (saffron/ orange is the colour associated with Hindu supremacism nowadays) Pramot Singh has said: “Only with a strong Meitei population, a strong Hindu population can India be a strong nation”. He is a close associate of the Chief Minister of Manipur, Biren Singh, who is from the Hindu supremacist political party BJP. Prime minister Modi is also from the BJP. Both the central govt and the Manipur state govt are formed by the Hindu supremacist BJP which has a history of violence against non-Hindu/minority religions
The other group/ gang is the black-shirted Arambai Tenggol who hate all Christians, They are led by Leishemba Sanajaoba, who is also from the BJP & is BJP’s Member in Indian Parliament’s upper house aka Rajya Sabha. The Arambai Tenggol 's only motive, is to bring Meiteis back to the fold of Sanamahism. A member of Arambai Tenggol has said “Most of the Meiteis are converting to Christianity so we just want to bring people back,”
Because the western govt & media has taken note of the ongoing genocide and are raising questions about the targetting of Christians given BJP’s history of violence against minority religions, the govt (both central and state) & media are trying to downplay the communal angle of this genocide.
Primary sources:
- Pramot Singh’s interview : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDJnPewUhmU
- Article on Pramot Singh titled ‘cultural nationalist’ in The Hindu newspaper.
- Article on Arambai Tenggol & its founder & leader Leishemba Sanajaoba in The Hindu newspaper : https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/probe-role-of-cm-rajya-sabha-mp-in-fuelling-violence-manipur-tribal-body/article66915888.ece
- Indepth article on Arambai Tenggol in Scroll : https://scroll.in/article/1050361/armed-gangs-and-a-partisan-state-how-manipur-slipped-into-civil-war
Today is the 88th consecutive day of ethnic and communal genocide in Manipur. The state has experienced 87 consecutive days & nights of violence, & terror. Homes have been burnt to the ground and those who have managed to escape have done so with only the clothes on their backs.
Meanwhile, Biren Singh continues to be Chief Minister, Amit Shah continues to be India’s Home Minister, and Narendra Modi continues to be India’s Prime Minister. If not for the Assam Rifles & BSF, the situation would be much worse.
India’s elected Prime Minister refuses to address Parliament for fear of being questioned, refuses to addressed the nation on Manipur refuses to take steps to end the violence, refuses to appeal for peace.
So what is he doing? He’s giving speeches against the opposition in state election campaigns.
The entire leadership of the ruling political party, the Hindu suppremacist BJP is ignoring the killings and violence in Manipur and are happy to let it burn. Mainstream media has been supporting Modi wholeheartedly. Opposition parties keep dragging the govt’s and people’s attention back to Manipur even at the risk of being kicked out of Parliament.
Meanwhile, instigators are using social media & local mainstream media to spread fake news to fuel the burning fire in Manipur and to set ethnic & communal fires in the sister states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Assam.