'Persecution of religious minorities' line negated
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 08 2024:
The misrepresentation of the ongoing Manipur conflict as "persecution of religious (Christian) minorities" in the West is categorically false and it must be rectified by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), said Meitei Alliance.
False propaganda only exacerbates the situation and obstructs peace efforts.
There has been blatant distortion of facts and deceitful narratives being promoted about the "ongoing mayhem" in Manipur, said the alliance of Meitei diaspora associations in India, West and Europe.
The conflict has been portrayed as persecution of religious Christian minorities.
The Meitei Alliance strongly condemns this blatant distortion of facts and deceitful narrative, it said, urging institutions like the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to rectify their reports and denounce the false narratives.
The institutions in the West must exercise utmost diligence and refrain from endorsing false propaganda perpetuated by fringe Kuki groups such as NAMTA that falsely project itself as representing the entire Scheduled Tribes of Mani-pur, said the Meitei Alliance presenting facts that have been distorted to suit false narratives on the crisis.
Firstly, there has been an attempt to paint Christians as minorities in Manipur which is false and baseless, said the alliance.
"The attempt to paint Christians as minorities in Manipur is baseless.
In reality, the Christian population constituted 41.29% of Manipur's total population in 2011, nearly equivalent to the Hindu population (41.39%)," it said.
The alliance pointed out that the true minorities in Manipur include those practising Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Sanama-hism, Tingkao Ragwang Chakpriak, etc.
The Christian population in Manipur has seen significant growth from 19% to 41% between 1961 and 2011, indicating it may soon surpass other religious groups, it added.
Secondly, the portrayal of the ongoing mayhem as a violent religious clash between the Hindus (Meitei) and Christians (tribes) is unfounded, said the Meitei Alliance.
"Not all Meiteis are Hindus, nor all Hindus are Meiteis.
Similarly, not all Christians are Kukis.
The immediate stakeholders of the mayhem are the Meiteis and the Kukis," it said.
While there have been incidental damages to religious structures of both the communities, including Churches and Temples of Meiteis destroyed by Kukis, the mayhem is devoid of religious motivation.
There is no violent religious clash between the Christians and the Hindus in Manipur, said the alliance.
Presenting its narrative of the crisis, the Meitei Alliance asserted that the violent conflict was orchestrated and perpetuated by cross-border Kuki armed groups, "funded through various illicit means of drug cartels and Western aid authorized by the US Congress Burma ACT of 2023" .
"The objective is to establish a Kuki expansionist territory called Zale'n-gam, by balkanising the established territories of India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh, with Manipur as the epicentre.
This is evidenced by their formal calls for an expansionist Kuki Lebensraum and launch of direct acts of terror, such as simultaneous attacks on Government and ethnic cleansing of Meiteis, initiated on May 3, 2023," said the alliance.
Further, the alliance made several suggestions to the international institutions including in the west to clearly understand the conflict and set the narratives right.
It said UN resources should investigate satellite imagery which may reveal extensive poppy cultivation "controlled by Kukis", and the repercussions of the "Western aid" in supplying cheap arms to Kuki armed groups.
US Congressman Adriano Espaillat and former UN Special Rapporteur Fernand De Varennes should scrutinize the financial sources of the Kuki groups, including funds raised within the USA by Christian institutions and the use of US Congress authorized aids, it said.
Western entities should authenticate information rigorously to avoid unintentionally spreading false propaganda from NAMTA, which has a history of "distorting truth for personal gain", it said.
"Failure to take the above actions would render them complicit in the death and suffering endured by innocent civilians," said the Meitei Alliance.
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