In Manipur, India’s easternmost state, 41,000 Christians from the Kuki-Zo ethnic group have been driven from their homes in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. As the violence that began on May 3, 2023, continues unabated into its second year, CSI is assisting victims in building homes and rebuilding their lives.
Since the violence erupted a year ago, it has claimed the lives of more than 176 Kuki-Zos and destroyed over 7,000 homes and 350 churches. The heavy toll reflects a deep-seated conflict with no immediate resolution in sight.
On April 13, 2024, an attack claimed the lives of two Kuki-Zo village volunteers. A local tribal organisation alleges this attack involved members of the security forces who were deployed to quell the violence. The organization believes that they cooperated with insurgents from the Hindu-majority Meitei ethnic group in the attack. It accuses the insurgents of mutilating and desecrating the bodies, with their actions captured and spread through social media.
The conflict traces its roots back to a directive the Manipur High Court issued in April last year. This asked the state government to grant tribal status to the Meitei community, enabling them to purchase land in Kuki-Zo territories. Local laws prohibit non-tribal communities from owning land in designated tribal areas.
However, the Christian-majority Kuki-Zo tribal community believed that the government was aiming to access their land, rich in natural resources such as oil, to serve corporate interests.
The decision sparked immediate unrest among tribal Christian communities, leading to a peaceful protest that met resistance from the Meiteis and escalated into widespread violence, fuelled by misinformation and extremist rhetoric.
Public videos captured Manipur police officers, identified as Meitei, alongside mobs committing arson and assaults against the Kuki-Zo community. After a video showing two Kuki-Zo women being paraded naked – and one of them subjected to a gang rape – went viral, the victims accused the police of inaction.
Within days of the outbreak of violence, all Kuki-Zo families residing in the Meitei-dominated Imphal region fled to the Kuki-Zo majority hill district of Churachandpur. Meanwhile all Meiteis in Churachandpur relocated to the Imphal valley. As a result there is a complete ethnic segregation on both sides.
The situation has remained extremely tense, preventing members of either community, including high officials and politicians, from entering the other’s territory. All Kuki-Zo properties in Imphal and all houses belonging to Meiteis in Churachandpur have been destroyed.
Of the nearly 41,000 Kuki-Zo people who have lost their homes, at least 21,000 are staying in more than 110 relief camps in Churachandpur. CSI has learned that at least 100 of them, including women and children, have died due to inadequate healthcare and substandard living conditions in makeshift shelters.
Amid these dire circumstances, CSI, in partnership with a local organization, has initiated a housing project near Mualtam lake in Churachandpur. The houses, currently under construction, will feature essential amenities and are designed with future upgrades in mind. Each unit will be equipped with two bedrooms, a living area, kitchen and bathroom. They will be completed within the coming months.
Building a home presents significant challenges. Churachandpur is now entirely isolated from Manipur’s Imphal region, situated about 60 kilometres away, where all the essential facilities and markets are located. As a result, all construction materials must be transported hundreds of kilometers from the neighboring states of Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram via mountain roads, leading to a substantial increase in costs.
Speaking to CSI, Leo, an elderly displaced person, stressed the severity of their situation. Having lost his home in the Sugnu area to arson, he now lives in a rented house near the village chief’s residence. Leo and his family, including his wife and orphaned grandson, are amongst those eagerly awaiting the completion of these new homes.
“In our lifetime, we would not be able to build a new house on our own,” he said, his trousers badly torn at the knee—the same ones he was wearing when he fled the violence about a year ago.
The soft-spoken Leo expressed gratitude to God for the support provided by individuals and organizations to help people like him to rebuild their lives.
