As was being anticipated, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has defeated a no-confidence motion submitted in the wake of his handling of Manipur state situation, given the strength of the BJP and its allies in the Lok Sabha. However, the development serves as a stark testament to the growing discontent with the ruling party’s policies.
The hands of Modi are soaked in the blood of innocent minorities, especially Muslims. From the 2002 Gujarat riots to situations both in Indian Illegally-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur, one sees a trail of death and destruction. A country that used to proudly call itself a secular state has now turned into a Hindutva one where, under the patronage of Modi, the extremist Hindus are free to perpetrate violence and atrocities against the followers of other religions at their free will.
Whilst the Indian Muslims are living under the constant threat of genocide and facing restrictions on the performance of their religious rituals, the circumstances for other minorities, especially Christians and Sikhs are also worrisome.
The current situation in Manipur is a distressing example where Hindutva zealots have unleashed their wrath upon the Christians. More than 180 people and tens of thousands of mainly Christians population has been displaced since early May when ethnic clashes broke out between the Meitei Hindu majority and the tribal Kuki Christian minority.
Hundreds of churches have also been burned down whilst several women have been raped in the hill-locked northeastern state. The ruling BJP’s apathy, rather leaning towards Hindutva nationalism, has only contributed to the exacerbation of tensions and added fuel to the fire in Manipur, thus further dividing communities along religious and ethnic lines.
“What Manipur is currently witnessing is nothing but an organized genocide of the Christians. While the BJP is evidently not very keen to stop this cycle of violence, other parties too have not been able to make any effective interventions,” Fr. Jacob G Palackapilly, official spokesperson of the Kerala Catholic bishop’s Council is on record expressing his grave concern over the situation in Manipur.
The other day, former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari very accurately named Modi as the butcher of Kashmir. In fact, he is not only the butcher of Gujarat and Kashmir but also Manipur and several other states where lives of minorities have been made miserable. The BJP feeds on the politics of religious polarization, the results of which are manifested in Delhi riots and now in Manipur. The BJP’s passion for identity politics has set off this communal polarization in Manipur.
The western media largely remained silent on Manipur until the emergence of a video showing sexual abuse. Now it has started reporting on Manipur situation with some characterizing it as a striking example of the persecution of Christians by Hindu Meeteis. A headline on the web of the charity Opendoorsconfidently proclaimed it was an orchestrated attack on Christians, in which ‘Christians have been killed and Churches burnt down’. The Church Times followed with a headline article that, ‘Religion is at the heart of Manipur clashes’. The American-based charity fiacona asserted that Christians had been evicted from their land as Churches were burnt down.
The BJP leadership is playing with the fire and as the election year is due next year in India, there are genuine concerns that Modi will further escalate the rhetoric against Pakistan also to achieve the desired results. The world community must take notice of the Indian leadership’s posture and whilst rising above political and economic expediency, take the requisite steps to stop India from crossing the limits. Both the Muslim and the Western countries should also focus on addressing the plight of Indian minorities including Muslims and Christians.
