The months-long persecution of Christian tribes in Manipur, northern India, by members of the majority Hindu Meitei tribe became a topic of national outrage on Wednesday as a video went viral of a presumed Meitei mob parading two women through the streets naked, molesting and humiliating them in broad daylight.
The video caused such outrage that the Indian government rapidly moved to censor it and remove it from social media sites. It prompted Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has denied that any religious violence exists in his country, to address the ongoing Christian persecution in Manipur for the first time.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the inauguration of the Global Buddhist Summit, in New Delhi, India, on April 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
The incident, multiple Indian news outlets have confirmed in the last 24 hours, occurred on May 4, as Manipur erupted in anti-Christian riots. The Meiteis and Manipur’s other local tribes, most of whom are Christians, have long come into conflict over land ownership and political power. In May, thousands of members of the other tribes, spearheaded by efforts of the largest Christian Kuki-Zo community, organized a protest in response to the Meitei community asking the Hindu nationalist federal government for “scheduled tribe” status. A “scheduled tribe” receives special privileges and services from the government, as it is considered underprivileged and in need. Opponents of the designation noted that the Meitei control Manipur’s most fertile lands and most powerful political positions, and thus should not qualify as needing the benefits of “scheduled tribe” status.
In response, mobs of thousands of Meiteis descended onto the Christian communities, burning churches, businesses, and homes, and displacing as many as 35,000 people in less than a month in May. That number has since surpassed 60,000 people.
Widespread reports have surfaced of killings, torture, and sexual assault. Kuki leaders have accused Modi’s government of permitting, and even enabling, the atrocities, as Modi’s leadership has corresponded with an exponential increase in anti-Christian violence nationwide. Police have also done little to nothing to prevent such attacks; the federal government refused to send the military into Manipur in June to protect the Christian tribes.
“The police, the local police, don’t protect the Christian churches and in some ways aid and abet the rioters,” David Curry — the president and CEO of Global Christian Relief, which is offering humanitarian aid in the region — told Breitbart News in May. Footage of the mob attacks in Manipur, he noted, “are being posted by the rioters themselves [on social media] … They’re not even afraid to post and call out the attacks on the churches on social media because there are no repercussions.”
One such video surfaced on Wednesday, appearing to document a crowd of males — both men and some apparent adolescent children — dragging two women naked through the street and taking turns molesting them. The women scream for help to no avail throughout the clip.
The Hindu, citing police reports from the time, witnesses, and Kuki leaders, identified the two women in the videos as members of the Kuki community. According to police documents, the incident occurred on May 4 as the riots first erupted against the Christians of Manipur. The women were reportedly in a group of five villagers who ran into the forest fleeing a Meitei mob of up to 1,000 men who had attacked their village, B Phainom. The group consisted of three women and two men. Both men were beaten to death, one immediately upon the discovery of the group, and the other, a 19-year-old, as he attempted to defend his sister while she was being gang-raped, the report said. All of the women were brutalized, beaten and fondled, but this report claimed only one of the women was gang-raped. Then two of the women were dragged through the streets and molested in broad daylight, on camera.
RELATED VIDEO — BIDEN MOMENT: Joe Puts Hand over Heart for Indian National Anthem, Awkwardly Holds PM’s Hand:
Multiple reports indicate police officers were present for the attack but did not interfere.
Scroll, another Indian publication, published an interview following the video surfacing with a woman from B Phainom who survived the attack. The unnamed woman told the outlet that she fled the village but the mob intercepted her, demanding she and the women with her strip naked.
“When we resisted, they told me: ‘If you don’t take off your clothes, we will kill you’,” she narrated. “I did as they told me, and three men surrounded me … One of them told the other, ‘let’s rape her’, but ultimately they did not … but they grabbed my breasts.”
The Times of India reported that the mob succeeded in burning down the entire village of B Phainom.
Armed Meitei community members carry automatic weapons as they rush towards a hillock where a firing incident was reported near Imphal, capital of the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, on June 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The Kuki-Zo Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that the victims in the video were Kuki people and stating that both women were gang-raped.
“The gang-rape of the women in B. Phainom village happened after the village was burnt down and two men, one middle-aged and another a teenager, were brutally beaten to death by the mob,” the ITLF confirmed. “The horrifying ordeal suffered by these innocent women is amplified by the perpetrators’ decision to share the video, which shows the identity of the victims, on social media.”
In response to nationwide disgust with the video and ongoing violence against Christians, Modi’s government finally began vowing to pursue the end of violence in Manipur on Wednesday and Thursday — though it first moved to erase the video from social media to prevent more people from seeing it. Chief Minister of Manipur Biren Singh vowed in a statement on Wednesday that the government would make arrests in the case and that the government would consider “capital punishment” for the perpetrators. As of Thursday, police have made two arrests related to the video, though the initial report claimed up to 1,000 men were involved in the mob attack on B Phainom.
Modi, speaking in front of Parliament on Thursday, also vowed to bring the attackers to justice.
“My heart is filled with anger and anguish. The incident in Manipur is a matter of shame to any civilised society,” the prime minister said. “Those who have committed this crime will be punished, but this incident has made 140 crore [1.4 billion] Indians hang their heads in shame.”
“I appeal to all Chief Ministers, whether Rajasthan or Chhattisgarh or Manipur, that they strengthen all law enforcement for the protection of women. In any corner of this country, under any party’s government in any State, law and order is prioritised, and so is the honour and safety of women,” he continued. “I assure the people that those who have perpetrated this crime will be punished and those who do such violence to our Manipuri daughters will never be forgiven.”
Modi has openly denied that any such incidents of religious violence occur in India, and he did not note the anti-Christian context in which the assault on the women had occurred during his remarks Thursday.
Modi recently visited Washington, DC, where leftist President Joe Biden gave him a regal welcome and hosted him for a White House State Dinner, the highest honor afforded to foreign heads of government. During a press conference with Biden, Modi was asked to comment on religious persecution in India.
“I’m actually really surprised that people say so,” Modi said, referring to comments that India is a place where non-Hindus face violent persecution. “We have always proved that democracy can deliver. And when I say deliver, this is regardless of caste, creed, religion, gender. There’s absolutely no space for discrimination.”
“These are our foundation principles, which are the basis of how we operate, how we live our lives. In India, the benefits that are provided by the government is accessible to all,” Modi continued. “Whoever deserves those benefits is available to everybody. And that is why, in India’s democratic values, there’s absolutely no discrimination neither on basis of caste, creed, or age, or any kind of geographic location.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.