Thousands of people took to the streets to demand the postponement of the 2027 census until the National Register of Citizens is updated. For the majority Meitei, this is a tool against illegal immigration from Myanmar, while for the Kuki-Zo minority, it risks becoming a means of political and social exclusion. The ethnic conflict that broke out in 2023 remains unresolved, exacerbated by competition for land and cross-border routes.
In the Indian state shaken by ethnic violence, the state government had announced that this Sunday, 31 March, would be a working day, using as a pretext the fact that it is the last day of the fiscal year. After protests by Christians (who are over 40 per cent of the local population), state authorities backtracked.
Local churches proved too small to contain everyone from communities displaced by the ethnic violence that has plagued the north-eastern state. Meanwhile, rehabilitation and reconstruction continue, noted Fr Varghese Velickakam. In Karnataka, thousands gathered at the Miraculous Cross in Nandgad on the Day of Prayer for India.
In her address to the state Legislative Assembly, Governor Anusuiya Uikey assessed the situation following months of interethnic strife between Meitei and Kuki. Some 10,000 First Information Reports have been filed in connection with the violence. Compensation has been paid to victims’ families. For Archbishop Lumon, the latter is important but the “situation remains difficult.” It is unclear whether churches and businesses will be compensated.
For weeks, the city on the border with Myanmar has been rocked by attacks and reprisals between ethnic Meitei and Kuki. Seven deaths have been reported in the last few hours. The Sisters of Mother Teresa have also been forced to leave their home amid fighting between armed men and Indian security forces.
Four Muslim Meitei were killed in Thubal district. Seven members of the security forces were wounded by armed Kuki in Moreh, a city on the border with Myanmar. A curfew has been reimposed in five districts of the northeastern state rocked by ethnic strife for months.
In his Christmas letter to the Catholics of the Indian state shaken by ethnic violence, Archbishop Linus Neli asked his community to share their goods with the poor and needy, praying that India's north-eastern state may regain peace and harmony. The Supreme Court has ordered the local government to identify and draw up a list of places of worship to be restored after being damaged by the violence in recent months.
The National United Christian Forum met in New Delhi to discuss the matter. Participants issued a joint appeal for an austere Christmas in solidarity with the victims of violence in Manipur. Likewise, the various Churches plan to express their concerns ahead of next year’s general election as well as study the state of Christian education in the country.
A new facility for people with autism, Parkinson's and Down syndrome opened in the Indian state shaken by ethnic violence. This occurred on the same day that the new bishop, Mgr Linus Neli, began his ministry in Imphal. At the inauguration, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Girelli noted that the facility was for the people of Manipur, without distinction, and that Pope Francis is praying for them.
In Leithao, Tengnoupal district, unidentified gunmen killed scores of people, forcing residents to flee to nearby villages. A local community leader calls for security forces to intervene. An official with the opposition Congress party slams the government for failing to act.
As rebels pursue their campaign against Myanmar’s military, fresh border tensions rise between the Meitei and Chin militias, who are ethnically related to the Kuki. A Myanmar national treated at an Imphal hospital dies when a mob storms the medical establishment enraged by the presence of the “invader". Meanwhile, the Commission of Inquiry set up in June by the Indian government into the violence has not yet held any hearing.
Since May, the deaths and clashes between the Maitei Hindu community, close to Modi's government, and that of the Kuki Protestant Christian minority in the north-eastern Indian state have not stopped. The Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Thrissur in nearby Kerala denounces the silence and connivance of the government party's politics with the Maitei community.
Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Linus Neli to lead the archdiocese of Imphal, which has been shaken for months by ethnic violence that has already caused 200 deaths. The new archbishop tells AsiaNews: "We pray for a peace that is not just cosmetic, strong in a hope that has its root in God. We will remain close to the refugees who still suffer in the camps'.
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