Armed Militia Terrorizes Christians with the Blessing of India’s Hindu Supremacist Government
Armed militia continue to terrorize Christian tribals in India’s northeastern state of Manipur with the tacit cooperation of the nation’s Hindu-supremacist government and the state government, local sources have told The Stream.
The vigilante groups, Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, are modeled after India’s notorious paramilitary Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu paramilitary outfit whose founding was inspired by Adolf Hitler and Nazism.
The Meitei militia seeking to ethnically cleanse the indigenous Christian tribals and take possession of their lands are made up of Hindus and Sanamahis (followers of another polytheistic religion).
Bishops Meet Modi
Sources on the ground said the militia have also escalated its persecution against the growing number of Meitei Christians, a factor entirely ignored by the media, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), the Vatican, and human rights groups.
A CBCI delegation met India’s Hindu-supremacist Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 12 to raise concerns about Manipur’s beleaguered Christians. “In solidarity with the people of Manipur, we urge you to intervene earnestly to bring peace and harmony in that state,” the bishops urged. According to Thazhath, Modi told the bishops that the violence in Manipur was the result of “an ethnic conflict” and “it does not have a communal color.”
“This is a tribal conflict,” Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, asserted in a video statement in August 2023. “It is given a religious twist, but it is not a religious conflict between two religions. It is between two tribes.”
Targeting Meitei Christians
However, the claim of ethnic violence between Meitei and Kukis is debunked by the fact that when the communal violence erupted on May 3, 2023, more than 240 of the 350 churches the rioters burned down or demolished belong to Meitei Christians.
In June, the Catholic archbishop of Imphal, Dominic Lumon, confirmed the claim that 249 churches belonging to Meitei Christians had been destroyed in the first 36 hours of the violence.
One of the key factors in inflaming the ire of the Meitei militia has been the astronomical number of conversions to Christianity in the Meitei community over the last five years, a church elder pointed out.
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Nearly 20 churches in Imphal belong to the Evangelical Baptist Convention (the largest denomination in Manipur), exclusively serving Meitei congregations. Census data from the Indian government shows that between the 1961 and 2011 censuses, the number of Hindus in Manipur decreased from 62% to 41%, while the Christian population rose from 19% to 41%.
“It is hugely concerning that no international media or Christian body, not even the Vatican, is drawing attention to the fact that the violence isn’t just committed by outraged mobs, but is carefully orchestrated with a view to wiping us out,” said a pastor from Manipur, who spoke to The Stream on condition of anonymity.
“The fact that they are armed with automatic rifles and ammunition stolen from military depots and we are not is terrifying. We can only put our trust in God, not the government,” he said.
Supremacist Narrative
An Amnesty International report published on July 16 has confirmed that the violent militias conducting these campaigns have “recruited thousands of volunteers, who are often armed with military-grade weapons allegedly looted from state police armouries.”
Law professor Dr. Thangzakhup Tombing says that both militia operate under the supremacist narrative of reviving the Meitei kingdom under a modern king.
Violence Against Christians
Arambai Tenggol (which translates as “Poison-Dart Wielding Cavalry”) members are using Facebook to project a more “edgy” and “cool” image of the outfit by uploading their pictures in advanced military gear and using AI to post funny morphed images of themselves, Frontline Magazine reported in May.
Meitei pastors have complained that they were forced to convert to Sanamahism and that several Meitei Christian families have had to renounce their faith by signing conversion affidavits and burning their Bibles under duress from these extremist groups, the report adds.
According to a report in The Caravan, “Arambai Tenggol faces accusations of rampant harassment, extortion and violence, targeting not just the tribal (Christian) Kuki and Naga communities, Meitei Christians and Meitei Muslims, but also Meitei Hindus who pose any sort of a challenge to them.
“The way the organisation — active for barely two years — has established its dominance suggests that the BJP-led union and state governments are not even trying to restrain them or keep the violence in check,” it added.
Meitei Leepun is led by Pramot Singh, who is fanning hatred against the Kuki-Chin-Zo tribals by pushing the narrative of conversions and illegal immigration from neighboring countries like Myanmar.
“The new illegal immigrants also get converted to Christianity. The missionaries are also involved in this. Then politicians use them as vote banks,” Singh claims, admitting to offering firearms training to his cadres as “part of our culture.”
“Before the British came in, every male Meitei had to mandatorily serve as a soldier, and for this no remuneration was paid. The British abolished this system, calling it bonded labor, though they actually feared rebellion. We want to revive our culture. That’s why we give arms training,” Singh says.
Sexual Violence
Amnesty International also found at least 32 reported incidents of Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Lippun committing gender-based violence against Christian tribal communities, and at least two incidents of abducting Manipur police.
“Yet, neither Arambai Tenggol’s nor Meitei Lippun’s members have faced prosecution in the past year,” the report states.
“The Arambai Tenggol have led mobs to Kuki-Zo villages that were then burnt down, killed people and slaughtered them. There are police reports which name them as the accused in sexual assault of Kuki-Zo women,” Greeshma Kuthar, a journalist reporting on the persecution in Manipur, told Amnesty.
“There are viral videos of their members beheading people … with no consequences. For any kind of reparations to begin, they should be prosecuted for their crimes,” she added.
Babloo Loitongbam, a human rights activist whose home was vandalized in October 2023, said his house was attacked after he spoke to the media about the violence in Manipur and “the role of Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Lippun and (the) failure of the Chief Minister to control the violence.”
Sacrilege Against Crucifix
In April, the Senapati District Catholic Union issued a statement condemning “the despicable act” of hoisting a pagan Sanamahi flag “atop a crucifix at St. George Catholic Prayer Mount in Sugnu.”
“This act of sacrilege and disrespect towards the symbols of faith is utterly reprehensible and intolerable,” the Catholic Union said, calling it a blatant attempt “to incite communal disharmony and sow seeds of discord.”
A month before the conflict began in May 2023, Arambai Tenggol members demonstrated their fealty to Sanamahism by storming the house of a Meitei Christian pastor for his allegedly blasphemous remarks.
Since May 2023, Meitei militia have destroyed or burned hundreds of churches, killed more than 200 tribals, displaced more than 70,000, and systematically targeted Christian schools and seminaries. These are official figures; Manipur church leaders say the reality is far worse.
As PBS reported, in April 2023, Meitei mobs gang-raped several Christian women and then and paraded them naked through the streets. A dossier contains records of 22 female victims of rape, torture, assault, arson and murder.
Jason Jones is a senior contributor to The Stream. He is a film producer, activist, and human rights worker. He is also the author of three books, the latest of which is The Great Campaign Against the Great Reset.