Violence in Manipur: an organization denounces a new model of "religious cleansing"
"The BJP government has used an underlying decades-old ethnic tension between two ethnic groups to bring down the deadliest violence against Christians."
In the state of Manipur, India, Christians suffered serious violence last May. At least 317 churches and 70 administrative/school buildings of churches were burnt down, at least 75 Christians killed, more than 30 displaced.
It is "the worst anti-Christian violence that India has ever seen", according to the FIACONA, the Federation of Indo-American Christian Organizations.
“The BJP government used an underlying decades-old ethnic tension between two ethnic groups to bring down the deadliest violence against Christians,” they explain.
The Federation statement said that while most of the destruction took place during the first three days of the May 3-6 conflict, the destruction was continuing as of June 1, when the statement was written.
"Under the guise of inter-communal conflict between the majority Manipuris (Meiteis) and minority tribal peoples (collectively known as the Kuki/Zomi tribes), almost every church in the extended Imphal Valley was burnt down, vandalized or desecrated by the militia supported by the BJP government", explains FIACONA which denounces a new model of "religious cleansing".
MC
