Hindutva campaign targeting Kukis for their Christian faith is leading to global perception of the Manipur situation as a religious conflict, diverting focus from the real issues.
When the European Parliament on July 10 listed a motion on Manipur to be discussed during its plenary session two days later, it made a section of Manipur바카라s riot-torn people hopeful that the global attention would finally result in the desired actions from New Delhi that Imphal has been crying for.
The actual discussion, however, elicited different responses from the two warring communities in Manipur. The European Parliament saw it as part of the 바카라Hindu majoritarianism바카라 that the BJP-ruled India has become known for. 바카라Intolerance towards religious and belief minorities has contributed to the current violence,바카라 the resolution noted, and called for the protection of 바카라all religious minorities, such as Manipur바카라s Christian community.바카라
The motion brought some relief to Manipur바카라s tribal-Christian Kuki-Chin population, as their issues were highlighted. But it upset the Meiteis, Manipur바카라s majority population who are mostly Hindus, as they thought the whole issue had been misunderstood by the European Union parliamentarians.
Journalist Rinku Khumukcham, editor of Imphal Times, an Imphal-based English-language evening daily, was one of those to be initially hopeful but later upset. He wrote it was 바카라unfortunate바카라 that the EP parliamentarians were 바카라ill-informed바카라 and were 바카라given a distorted narrative바카라 showing the ongoing conflict as 바카라mere religious persecution of minority Christians.바카라
Persecution of religious minorities under Hindu majoritarian BJP바카라s rule has increasingly made global news and the international watchers perhaps thought the developments in Manipur fell in the same pattern. Even senior politicians and academics from other parts of India have described the Manipur violence as a case of religious conflict, in which Metei Hindus were targetting Kuki Christians.
For example, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted in June saying that there was mounting disquiet among Christians in Kerala about the Prime Minister바카라s silence on the violence in Manipur. He, obviously, took it to be a case of religious conflict.
One of the main reasons why a large number of people outside Manipur are perceiving the ongoing violence as a case of persecution of religious minorities 바카라 which would actually be a wrong way to describe the conflict 바카라 is the overzealous online campaign by Hindutva activists vilifying Kukis for their Christian identity.
Soon after the beginning of the conflict on May 3 started a flood of social media posts targeting Kukis as 바카라Christian terrorists.바카라 While tweets from handles belonging to Meiteis mostly blamed 바카라Kuki terrorists바카라 or 바카라Kuki militants바카라 or 바카라Kuki drug mafias바카라 and 바카라Kuki narco terrorists바카라, the profiles belonging to Hindutva activists, operated mostly by people outside Manipur, started vilifying 바카라Kuki Christian terrorists.바카라
A look at how social media campaigns peddled different narratives reveal that the handles operated by Kukis initially described it as an attack on tribals, and blamed Meiteis, but did not refer to them as 바카라Meitei Hindus바카라. However, the emergence of the 바카라Save Meitei Hindus바카라 or 바카라Save Hindus in Manipur바카라 campaigns coincided with their strategy of highlighting the Christian identity of the Kukis.
Visuals of the burning and destruction of churches added fuel to the campaign on religious lines, and so did the visuals of attacks on temples, though the latter were fewer in number.
The hateful campaign unleashed by Hindutva activists highlighting the Hindu identity of the Meiteis prompted a large number of people outside Manipur to suspect Hindu majoritarian complicity in the ongoing conflict, leading to the general perception of Manipur conflict as a case of persecution of minority Christians.
Arambam Luther, a senior sub-editor at the Imphal Free Press, one of Manipur바카라s highest-circulated English dailies, wrote in mid-June that the timing of the conflict was 바카라rather uncanny and unfortunate바카라.
바카라This conflict erupted while the rest of the Indian nation is witnessing a widespread menace of Hindu supremacists making hate speeches, attacking Muslims and Adivasis, etc., making life a literal hell for those who are not Hindus, while the face who is said to be behind this whole RSS brigade and Hindutva ideology is sitting at the Centre,바카라 he wrote while castigating 바카라Left-liberals바카라 for spreading a distorted narrative of the Manipur conflict.
바카라This created a perfect atmosphere for the left-leaning mainland media houses, which are up against Modi and his far-right politics, to happily interpret the prevailing conflict as another instance of Hindu supremacists over minorities, though the particular issue has nothing to do with religion,바카라 he wrote.
In many ways, Luther is right, but let us have a peek into the campaign of the Hindu right, who have taken upon themselves the task to defend the Meiteis.
Multiple Hindutva handles, such as SK (@pahadanldki_SK), Ritu #जिष्णु (@RituRathaur), Manoj (@facet9949), Naren Mukherjee (@NMukherjee6), and Vladimir Adityanath (@VLDMIRADITYNATH) highlighted the conflict as an attack on Hindus soon after the violence broke out, trying to implicate Christian missionaries for the mayhem. They started popularising the hashtag #justiceforManipuriHindus.
For example, on May 17, Vladimir Adityanath first wrote in a tweet that 바카라The #Meiteis betrayed by Nehru and restricted to 10% of their land is facing a systematic church controlled ethnic cleansing for decades바카라 and then followed it up with another tweet, 바카라First govt. MLA, now #SupremeCourt denies justice to the Hindu majority #Meitei in Manipur. The only country where the state and judiciary denies basic rights to Hindus, discriminating against their own native culture.바카라
Manoj wrote on May 20, 바카라They set fire to the churches themselves so that they can claim a hefty compensation from the Government, raise huge amounts of money from former colonial powers and pretend to play victims while being perpetrators of violence. Stop supremacist church.바카라 In a following tweet, he wrote, 바카라Present violence unleashed against Meites is connected to the hatred spread by proselytising church in Manipur, very similar to how they target local customs, religion, and practices everywhere.바카라
However, most pro-Meitei handles did not refer to the religious identity of either side for most of May. This started changing ahead of the June 4 바카라peace rally바카라 by Meitei at New Delhi바카라s Jantar Mantar, an event for the success of which the Hindutva camp visibly made significant efforts.
Therefore, the handle of Homer (Arsenal_Homer), which was describing Kukis as 바카라militants바카라, 바카라terrorists바카라, 바카라illegal immigrants', and 바카라drug lords바카라 all along but never mentioned religion, started referring to their Christian identity. By June 4, the account had started posting tweets like: 바카라Save the indigenous Meitei Hindu Population in Manipur. They are the only remaining Hindu stronghold in the Northeast. Once they are gone, Hindus are gone from the Northeast of India.바카라
Noting this change, Deikim, a pro-Kuki handle, wrote, 바카라The Sanamahi fanatics have now attempted to promulgate the situation as a religious clash in order to gain sympathy from the Hindu population.바카라
In fact, it would not be right to describe the entire Meitei population as Hindus, not the least in the sense that Hindu societies in 바카라mainland India바카라 are. While most of the Meitei practice Vaishnavite Hinduism and have their temples, there also are followers of the traditional Sanamahism, which centres on nature worship. Sanamahis may not necessarily have religious structures like temples but treat the southwest corner of their home as their place of worship. Sanamahism is the link to the past Meitei status as a tribe.
Nevertheless, for nearly a decade now, India and the world have become quite well familiar with the plot of 바카라Hindu Khatre Mein Hain바카라 or Hindus are in danger 바카라 a perceived victimhood that Hindu majoritarianism plays as part of their strategy 바카라 even as India has continued to record an increasing number of atrocities on Muslims and Christians. Every time these Hindu supremacists cry 바카라Hindu khatre mein hain바카라, a large number of people suspect foul play.
People do get judged by their friends, by their associations, even if it may not always be the right thing in every case. In the case of the Manipur conflict, the allegations of 바카라Hindu genocide바카라 and 바카라Hindu exodus바카라 spread by Hindutva handles known for systematically spreading hatred against Muslims and Christians have, in many ways, harmed the interests of the Meiteis, at least when it comes to public perception outside Manipur.
For, it would be wrong to identify any particular side as 바카라the perpetrator.바카라
Union home minister Amit Shah, during his visit to Manipur, had blamed the Manipur high court ruling on granting Scheduled Tribes (ST) status to the Meiteis for the entire chaos 바카라 a ruling that has faced the Supreme Court바카라s ire as well. It was against this order that protests were organised in different parts of the Kuki-dominated hill areas of the state on May 3.
The state바카라s two major tribal groups, both Nagas and Kukis, opposed the valley-based Meiteis바카라 demand for ST status, as it would enable them to buy land in the hill areas, which they are currently not allowed. But the reason why trouble broke out only in the Kuki-dominated areas and not the Naga-inhabited hills lies in how a campaign targeting the Kukis were intensifying over the preceding months.
The valley-based Meiteis, who make up the state바카라s majority population, blame 바카라Kuki narco-terrorism' involving Myanmar-based drug lords operating in Manipur through Kuki militants and illegal Myanmarese immigrants for the entire chaos. They allege that the Biren Singh government바카라s drive against the drug economy 바카라 poppy cultivation and opium trade to be precise 바카라 is the real reason.
But these are all administrative issues that could have been tackled by administrative measures 바카라 identifying and arresting kingpins of drug rackets, burning of poppy fields, and increasing vigilance on the international border to monitor movements of people displaced from Myanmar and the armed militants.
But the state government turned it into a political issue and carried out a campaign in a manner that vilified the entire Kuki community, whereas it has been seen time and again that such rackets operate in collaboration with a section of security forces and politicians and many of them are not Kukis. A rise in Meitei majoritarianism engineered by Meitei extremist groups like Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun added fuel to the fire.
Just like 바카라Bangladeshi바카라 became a term used for the otherisation of all Bengalis in Assam, and Bengali Muslims in particular in West Bengal, 바카라Myanmarese illegal immigrants바카라 served to 바카라otherise바카라 the entire Kuki community, who have their ethnic kins from Myanmar, facing military attack under the army rule there, sneaking in India바카라s Manipur and Mizoram states since Myanmar바카라s February 2021 coup.
This growing anxiety over linking the community with Myanmar-connected drug rackets and armed groups got amplified by the Meitei demand to be allowed to settle in the hill areas.
If we look at United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)바카라s recent data, the infiltration from Kuki-Chin dominated Chin state and Sagaing region of Myanmar stands at a little over 8,000 in Manipur and over 40,000 in Mizoram. Since the Kuki-Chin-Mizo group of people form the overwhelming majority of the population in Mizoram, the infiltration from Myanmar has not yet created any social tension there.
But if we look at the UNHCR figure, is the number in Manipur at all warranting a campaign like demanding a citizenship screening exercise? Of course, Meiteis say the actual numbers are higher and that many have already got themselves enrolled as voters in India. But couldn바카라t the government of India step in to deal with a problem arising out of international developments?
The demand for a citizenship screening exercise in Manipur in line with Assam바카라s National Register of Citizens (NRC) triggered anxieties among the Kuki population because they are the newest settlers. While the Meiteis are living in the valley and the Nagas in the northern hills for many centuries, Kuki habitations in the southern hills are recorded since the 18th century only. That too makes it more than two centuries but the Kukis also have a history of migration in post-Independence years, not only from Myanmar but also from Mizoram.
Of course, Kuki militants with Myanmar connections and cross-border drug rackets have a major role to play in this conflict. It is undeniable that poppy cultivation in recent years has remained predominant in the hill areas inhabited by the Kukis and that such cultivation has also resulted in a loss of forest cover.
But it can be missed that the chief minister who tried to play an environmental crusader with regard to the Kuki-dominated hill areas played a totally opposite role when it came to protecting the Loktak Lake, the mirror and crown of Manipur, where he has been hard-pushing a luxury tourism project that can endanger the natural ecosystem of this Ramsar Site - a wetland of global importance 바카라 and the livelihood of people traditionally dependent on the lake.
It is also worth remembering that ahead of the 2022 assembly election, there were widespread allegations of Kuki militants batting for BJP candidates in exchange for promised leeways. Seven of the state바카라s 10 Kuki MLAs belong to the BJP and several of them have various degrees of connections with Kuki militant groups.
At the same time, the Kuki politicians바카라 rather irresponsible call for a separate administration only worsened the scenario. Manipur바카라s territorial integrity has been a highly sensitive issue and its integration with India in 1951 itself has been challenged by a section of Meitei militant groups. There has been intense opposition to Naga militants바카라 demand of including Manipur바카라s Naga-dominated areas in their proposed 바카라Nagalim바카라 or greater Nagaland. No wonder the Meiteis are seeing the Kuki politician바카라s demand as part of the Kuki militants바카라 larger demand for Zalengam, the greater Kuki nation.
A set of local and cross-border political and economic interests, clubbed with old nationhood ideas of every ethnic group, led to the present crisis in Manipur and it will be in the best interest of the state to stop highlighting religion, which is not at all at the centre of the problem. Hindutva campaigners from 바카라mainland India바카라 would continue to try to exploit the situation to further their own agenda outside Manipur but it would do neither Manipur nor the Meiteis any good. The more the Meiteis fall into this trap, the more Manipur will be known as a case of 바카라religious conflict.바카라