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similar situations all over the country, but UP is the worst affected with
over 130 church leaders currently
in prison, many in pre-trial custody having been refused bail.
pogrom against Christians, conducted by Meitei Hindu mobs but with
at least tacit support from the authorities.
For all these pastors, it takes great faith to step out of their house each day, not knowing where or when the next threat or attack will come from, and knowing that the police are now as likely to add to their troubles as they are to protect them. Yet, they do it anyway, continuing to love and serve God by loving and serving their neighbours, and in doing so they are reaping much fruit. Amid these accounts of hardship we also heard testimonies of people turning away from drunkenness, despair and domestic violence to follow Jesus;
Such is the collusion now between the mob, hell-bent on preserving Hinduism at all costs, and the powers of the state that attacks on Christians happen brazenly and with impunity. This is nowhere more evident than in the far north-eastern state of Manipur which was riven by ethnic violence last May. The situation in Manipur is complex and the conflict between the Meitei and Kuki peoples is multi-dimensional; based upon ethnicity, politics, access to valuable protected land (legally determined by ‘Scheduled Tribe Status’, protests against the changing of which initiated the current troubles) and religion: the Kuki are almost 100 per cent Christian, whereas the Meitei are predominantly Hindu (and the neighbouring Nagas have their own traditional religious practices closely related to Hinduism). However, the testimony we heard firsthand, from both Meitei and Kuki Christians,
Amid such accounts of pure hatred against Christians and wanton destruction of their lives and property it would be easy to be discouraged, especially as they portray an image
ETHNIC VIOLENCE
of India which has changed so much in the past two decades, and is moving in the opposite direction to the inclusive vision of Gandhi and its other founding fathers.
However, there is much to be inspired by. ‘Motilal’* is another pastor who was brutally attacked, along with his wife, in their home in Rajasthan, and has also been arrested and fined by the police. Yet, he said, ‘Even if I die,
of poor children being educated and getting good jobs, of girls and women escaping temple prostitution, and of the sick getting healthcare, or even miraculous healing. Our partners in India are following the example of Jesus’s holistic ministry on earth and thousands of people are responding to this love as they always have done, wherever and whenever the gospel is presented in matching word and deed by people who live it out, consistently, selflessly and even to the point of ultimate sacrifice. As the leader of our partner organisation said: ‘The India we knew is gone, but the church will grow and survive if we Christians continue to live out our faith.’
I will not stop serving the Lord and doing the ministry he has given me in this village.’
PRAY FOR INDIA
• Pray for pastors currently in prison, or facing legal cases as a result of their Christian ministry, and for our partner giving them legal advice and support
• Pray for healing for those who have been physically injured or still suffer trauma as a result of being attacked
• Pray for churches that are growing fast and yet lack a safe place to meet
• Pray for wisdom and protection for those faith leaders who face difficult decisions when working under such pressure
• Pray that India’s Supreme Court will uphold its constitution and strike down anti-conversion laws
• Pray for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Manipur, a safe return for all those who have been displaced and provision of safe places of worship for both Kuki and Meitei Christians
• Pray for India’s national elections in April-May 2024, for a peaceful voting process, a fair count and the election of honest leaders who will govern for the good of all Indians whatever their faith
is that the mass violence against Kukis, which has forced more than 60,000 of them to flee while state police and national security forces stood by without intervening, would never have been permitted to last so long if the Kukis were not Christian. Videos of people defiling and burning hundreds of Kuki Christian churches, with their faces uncovered, whilst armed with automatic weapons – despite a significant military presence in the area – are circulating freely
*Names changed to protect identities.
HOW RELEASE INTERNATIONAL HELPS IN INDIA
• Provides legal assistance to church leaders who have been accused and arrested
• Provides support for medical care and assistance for the injured including long-term rehabilitation
• Supplies Bibles
• Emergency relief such as for those displaced by violence
on the internet, suggesting a spirit of total impunity and no fear of prosecution.
‘Even if I die, I will not stop serving the Lord’
Furthermore, the similar desecration and destruction of over 250 Meitei Christian churches, also by Meitei mobs, and again, without interruption by the authorities, suggests that, whatever the complex ethnic and political origins of the Meitei-Kuki dispute, it has become in effect a
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