By Matters India Reporter
Ahmedabad, June 22, 2023: The national association of Catholic journalists in India on June 22 demanded the dismissal of the government in the strife-torn northeastern Indian state of Manipur.
“It is 50 days since violence broke out in Manipur on May 3. Though the reality is complex, we are deeply pained that precious little is being done to stop the violence,” laments a statement from the Catholic Press Association of India.
The 75-year-old association’s executive committee that met June 22 in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad also expressed its anguish at the Catholic Church leaders’ failure to play “a prophetic, prompt and decisive role to stop this violence and to alleviate the tremendous suffering of the people of Manipur.”
The statement signed by the association’s president Ignatius Gonsalves urged the Church leaders to form a high-level team, with the other Christian Churches, send it to Manipur as soon as possible and try to bring a healing touch to the people there.
The statement noted that the executive committee met in a place associated with Mahatma Gandhi, who gave to the world his twin doctrine of ahimsa (nonviolence) and satyagraha (force of truth.)
“The hallowed ‘Sabarmati Ashram’ and the ‘Dandi Bridge’ from which the Mahatma began the unparalleled ‘Dandi yatra,’ challenge us Catholic journalists of India, to respond in a more meaningful way to the unbridled violence, hate and untruth that has gripped Manipur and several other parts of our country today,” says the statement.
It says the violence in Manipur has killed more than one hundred people, brutalized, raped and rendered homeless thousands of others.
“Homes, churches and other institutions have been looted, set on fire and razed to the ground. The perpetrators continue their heinous deeds, with apparent support from the ruling regime; even heavily protected state armouries with sophisticated weapons have been ‘looted’ by them,” the Catholic journalists bemoan.
They also point out that the most victims are Christians and tribals.
“Well-meaning citizens from all over the country are outraged that the state and the Central governments have not demonstrated the political will to stop the violence, which obviously point out both to their culpability and complicity.”
So, the association wants the state government and president’s rule imposed in Manipur and stop the violence immediately.
It also wants those driven out of their homes and lands be given safe passage to return and be ensured the necessary security in their areas.
Other demands include immediate arrest of the perpetrators and instigators and punishing them appropriately; giving adequate and just compensation to all victims; and setting up of an 11-member Independent Citizens Tribunal to look into the causes and the extent of the violence in Manipur.
The association resolved to highlight the importance of truth and non-violence for a more just, free, equitable and fraternal India.
Chief Minister Biren Singh should be removed and also the High Court justice whose illegal order resulted in this death and destruction