A two-member Congress delegation of MPs from Kerala that toured strife-torn Manipur has returned “horrified”, alleged targeted attacks on Christians in furtherance of the “RSS agenda” and accused the BJP governments in the northeastern state and at the Centre of aiding the communal violence.
The Congress team has accused the armed forces on the ground of failure to control the situation, mostly standing as mute spectators.
Ernakulam Lok Sabha member Hibi Eden, who toured the affected regions of Manipur on June 13 and 14 along with his Idukki colleague Dean Kuriakose, has no doubt that the violence is part of an RSS agenda to silence the voices of minority communities.
“It is an unruly situation out there. Christians and their institutions are the main targets. This is clearly an agenda of the RSS,” Eden told The Telegraph on Wednesday.
“The BJP and its governments have been describing this as an ethnic conflict.But the testimonies coming from their own MLAs prove otherwise,” he said, alluding to his interactions with Manipur MLAs who support the BJP.
He cited a total failure of the central and state governments and the armed forces and the police in maintaining law and order in the state. “The big man called Amit Shah whom we consider as one of the strongest political leaders in India has miserably failed to maintain law and order. He camped there for three days and wasn’t able to bring the situation back to normal,” Eden said.
Eden vehemently differed with the BJP and its governments that describe the Manipur flare-up as an ethnic strife between the Hindu-majority Meiteis and the mostly-Christian Kukis.
“If it is an ethnic conflict, why is it that Christian institutions like churches and monasteries are the main targets? How many temples have come under attack?” Eden asked.
“Christian institutions that belong to both the communities (Meiteis and Kukis) have been widely attacked and burnt down. Meitei Hindus are attacking churches of Meitei Christians. So it is the Christian community that is being targeted with the support of the ruling party and the state government,” Eden alleged.
He likened the situation to the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying the state and central forces deployed in Manipur have been mute spectators. “I think this is exactly what the state and central governments wanted. But unfortunately, hardly anything is coming out in the media,” Eden said, recounting the experience of seeing charred remains of buildings including Christian institutions.
Eden and Kuriakose toured some of the violence-hit areas without even identifying themselves as members of Parliament. “We undertook the tour on the advice of K.C. Venugopal (AICC general secretary) who had specifically instructed us not to reveal our identities so that we are not stopped from touring,” Eden recalled, explaining how they managed to travel to places such as Churachandpur and Imphal and villages along the way.
Compared to his previous trips to Manipur as the National Students Union of India president accompanying Rahul Gandhi more than a decade ago, Eden recalled his most recent experience with a “sense of horror”.
“I had gone there a couple of times to organise student interactions with Rahul Gandhi. But unfortunately, it was a sense of horror this time. It was literally a war going on there,” he said.
Eden questioned the role of the security forces, including the state police and their intelligence, in preempting and preventing attacks on entire villages. “The villagers knew which village would come under attack next. But it’s a mystery how the intelligence has no clue about it.”
Advocate and social activist Justine Pallivathukkal, who was part of a team of Christian leaders that visited Manipur, had similar views on how the armed forces were mere spectators there.
