By Albert Thyrniang
The Manipur Violence is complex. It has many dimensions. The latest talking point is the drug angle. Though the details were known since 2018, yet the ‘revelation’ by the former Additional Superintendent of Police, Thounaojam Brinda against chief minister N Biren Singh has prominently brought the focus back to the ‘narcotic’ story. In interviews, Brinda who had to resign from the police for political apathy in the fight against drugs, informs that in 2018 her team raided the house of the then chairman of the Chandel Autonomous District Council, Lhukhosei Zou and recovered 4,595 kgs of drugs. As the BJP, MDC, Zou was the ‘right hand man’ of Chief Minister N Biren Singh who sent several emissaries to the senior officer, including his aides and police officers, to pressurise the officer to release arrested accused. Standing firm the Narcotics and Affairs of Border Bureau (NAB) boss refused to entertain pleas to go soft on the politician just because of his proximity to the CM. Zou was subsequently charged, tried but unfortunately acquitted in 2021. Disillusioned Brinda returned the Chief Minister’s Police Gallantry Award Medal accusing the chief minister of being flippant in eliminating the drug menace. Now the Imphal based activist has labelled the most damaging charges against the chief minister saying, ‘He is not fighting (against drugs). He is part of the drug cartel. He is protecting them. He is their Patron.”
So, now it can be read that the Manipur ‘ethnic clash’ is at the behest of the drug mafia. The ‘Kuki planters’ are only soft targets. The drug lords might have instigated mobs to attack rival communities so that the so-called ‘War against Drug’ does not catch up with them. The violence might have been orchestrated by powerful drug traders and dealers to divert attention away from them. The focus would be on the deaths, the destruction, exodus of communities, the camps, the security forces, the political mudslinging while they escape the law. Most drug kingpins are in Imphal and they include politicians, bureaucrats and the police.
The same holds true of the Kuki militants. They could have prompted the general populace against the Meitei community so that they continue to enjoy the profits of drug trade. They could be actively involved in smuggling poppy seeds to Myanmar and elsewhere and trafficking drugs back to Imphal and the rest of the country through Moreh and Churachandpur district. They do not what the government and the police to go after them and hence went for violence.
This crucial drug angle has to be investigated thoroughly to understand the Manipur unrest, considered even worse than the Gujarat and Kandhamal pogroms. The chief minister himself is under the scanner. Powerful and influential politicians in Delhi could also be involved in the drug business. The topmost political leaders could also be aware of this. Is this the reason why the violence in Manipur continues unabated?
Just as the drug angle is critical, the religious dimension must also be grasped because the violence in Manipur follows the pattern of the rest of India. It is said that the Manipur violence is intertwined with religion. Imphal Archbishop, Dominic Lumon opines that elements took advantage of the ethnic clash to target churches and church properties. The fact that 249 churches were burned down within 36 hours of the clash meant that the destruction was pre-planned. So, anti-Christian groups have done it. But the Mumbai Archbishop, Oswald Gracias is convinced that “Manipur violence is not a Hindu-Christian conflict but it is a tribal conflict.” The RSS has used his statement to deny any religious dimension in the three-month long violence and given themselves a clean chit of any involvement.
It is acknowledged that the RSS has done a lot of work in Imphal. The Sangh may be linked to radical and revival groups like the Meitei Leepun and Arambai Tenggol, the main accused in the prolonged violence. Does that work contain building up of ant-Christian sentiments? Does that work include instilling majoritarian supremacy among the Meiteis? The RSS’s ideology is the supremacy of the majority Hindu race/culture. Therefore, the Imphal valley might have been a hotbed of this anti-Christian/minority laboratory.
Christian groups might have also been at fault, though minutely. In April, a month before the start of the nightmare, a pastor allegedly made a highly blasphemous and offensive remark against the Meitei indigenous faith in Imphal. Though the pastor later apologised the damage was done. There are also allegations that Christians indulged in conversions. There are reports claiming that the population of the Meitei Hindus and traditional Sanamahi religion is declining while that of the Christians is rising. Though this is contrary to the 2011 census, Christians must be sensitive to the concern. Public radical statements like, “Christ is the only Saviour” do not facilitate communal harmony. Increase in number is not absolutely necessary. Caring for those who are already Christians is recommended. Living a life based on the values of Christ is even more important. Elsewhere in the country Christian organisations invite trouble by ignoring the law. In Madhya Pradesh, for example, a church was built without permission. An opportunity was handed to goons to vandalise it.
These days we are seeing church rallies against Manipur. The other day it was in Shillong. One is amused to hear prelates and pastors thanking God for choosing the very leaders who are presiding in the country at this troubled time. Some specifically named the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Manipur. Political leaders are not chosen by God. They are elected by voters. Humans can make mistakes. Church leaders should have asked people whether they have made a mistake in electing these leaders. If so, they should correct their mistakes next time.
The Haryana communal violence began because the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad took out a procession through Edward Chowk, a Muslim dominated locality to Shiva temple in Nuh, as part of the ‘Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra.’ Marchers raised provocative slogans. They carried lethal arms like swords. Prior to the violence, the Bajrang Dal cow vigilante, Monu Manesar, an accused in the murder of two Muslim men provoked by insisting on social media that he himself would be part of the procession. This angered local Muslims who dared him to appear in Nuh. The police, on their part failed to anticipate the violence which has now spread to other parts of the state taking away six lives and injuring over 200 people and incurring huge loss of public and private property.
The attack on Mahadev Khola Dham in Shillong may have no communal colour. It may have no connection with the volatile situation in Manipur. The July 24 incident might have been an attack on a shopkeeper over trivia. It could be defined as looting of phones and money by miscreants but the very fact that it took place in a temple premise where devotees were also attacked is bound to create religious ripples. Whether we like it or not, a tinge of religious element is at work.
The Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) attempted to amplify and worsen the regrettable incident. The Twitter handlers of the LRO who are supposedly affiliated to the RSS made inflammatory, premature and highly communal statements, one being, “Khasi Student Union-KSU goons attacked Mahadev Khola mandir… We see them assaulting priests, women devotees including family of priests. Will Presb (Presbyterian) Church stop hate mongering?” The LRO also alleges that the churches train the KSU. It is right that the police are on the look-out for LRO ‘members.’
We can clearly see the religious thread in the above-mentioned cases of violence. Why does religion have to be at the centre of violence? Plurality of religions is a reality in the world. The inherent principle of religion is conversion. Hindu, Christian, Islam, Buddhist, Jain missionaries, etc., have converted, are converting and will convert others to their respective faiths. In Manipur there is a strong sentiment that Hinduism was imposed on the Meiteis. Most of us have changed our religions. Even adherents of Hinduism have evolved from a pre-Hindu entity. Something else existed before Hinduism. Hindu fundamentalist groups have a grudge against Muslims and Christians for conversion. The Haryana violence is blamed on the Meo Muslims, converts from Jats, Meenas, Rajputs and Ahirs. That is part of history. Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and others too have come out of Hinduism. In India ‘ghar wapsi’ is on.
In the US and Europe many Christians are embracing Hinduism. Many flock to Ashrams to alter their faiths. If Hindus feel threatened by conversion they must examine the reasons. Is it the caste system in Hinduism that is responsible? Is it not true that those who have opted away from Hinduism are better off, socially at least?
The Tura violence has no religious tinge but an abundance of politics. For want of space it is not considered here. Hope it remains relevant until the next opportunity.