Kerala christian body calls for central rule in violence hit manipur

Kerala christian body calls for central rule in violence hit manipur

Centre and State governments criticised for failing to bring peace and order; Metropolitan Archbishop of the Thalassery Archdiocese likens violence in the State to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) has criticised the Centre and the Manipur government for failing to bring back peace and order in the north-eastern State.

It called for the imposition of President’s rule in Manipur as the State government had failed to resolve the long-drawn incidents of violence and arson, leading to several deaths.

KCBC spokesperson Fr. Jacob Palakkappilly told The Hindu on Thursday that the Manipur government had not been able to take control of the situation in the State. It was now up to the Union government to dismiss it and declare Central rule.

Vested interests

He also blamed vested interests for taking advantage of the situation and targeting communities. He said the Bishops’ Council had expressed the same opinion.

Earlier this month, the KCBC had expressed its solidarity with the people of Manipur while expressing great pain at the developments in which several people were killed, thousands fled their homes, and places of worship were burnt.

The statement had come at the end of the monsoon session of the Bishops’ Council, the apex body of the Catholic Church in Kerala.

President of the KCBC Baselios Mar Cleemis said during a prayer meeting recently in Kochi that people being targeted for their religious beliefs in a secular country needed to be condemned.

The KCBC will organise a meeting on July 5 to declare its solidarity with the suffering people of Manipur.

Minority outreach

Meanwhile, Mar Joseph Pamplany, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Thalassery Archdiocese of the influential Syro-Malabar Church, lent his voice to the anti-BJP chorus.

The BJP had counted Mar Pamplany among its backers in the Church after the archbishop said Christians would vote for the BJP if the Centre ensured a higher market price for rubber.

Christian settler farmers hold immense political and social clout in Central and North Kerala and view the Church as their champion. The violence in Manipur and the Centre’s move on a draft Uniform Civil Code (UCC) are threatening to throw the BJP’s carefully choreographed outreach to minorities off balance in Kerala.

On Thursday, Mar Pamplany took a potshot at the BJP-led Manipur government stating that people could not be faulted if they thought the State covertly sanctioned the violence.

Notably, he likened the violence in Manipur to the 2002 Gujarat riots. He said Christians were being overwhelmingly targeted.

Mar Pamplany also trained his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that Mr. Modi claimed in the U.S. that India was a rule-based society and its Constitution was a guarantee against religious discrimination.

He said the world would perceive the PM’s words to be honest if he could convince the people of Manipur that there was no religious prejudice and bigotry in the State.