Manipur violence and relief – your help

Benjamin Chan

June 1,  2023

I am sharing with you a very sad and bad situation in Manipur, NE India which our partners and International Ministries (IM) have been handling since last month.

There are three main tribal groups in the state of Manipur: the Naga and the Kuki mostly live in the hilly area, and the Meitie mostly lives on the plane. The majority of Naga and Kuki are Christian, and Meitei is mostly Hindu, but there are Meitei Baptists who are members of our partner Manipur Baptist Convention.

A group of Meities set fire to Kuki houses in Manipur State, NE India, which has now caused more than 100 people dead, over 300 injured, and about 50,000 displaced. There has been a curfew and the internet banned for a month. At least 3,500 weapons and 500,000 ammunition have been stolen by mobs. IM has provided an emergency relief grant of $10,000, and our partner conventions and churches have mobilized the provision of relief supplies to the refugee camps. The violence is mainly caused by a conflict over the inclusion of Meitei into the Schedule Tribe status, which Naga and Kuki have opposed.

Our India partner is trying their best to restore inter-tribal, and inter-faith peaceful relations, as we need to provide more relief support to help the victims. Would you consider a donation for the relief supply? Any amount is appreciated. You can find related postings on my Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benslchan/.

You can write a check payable to “International Ministries”, mark on the check “Manipur India Relief”, and send the check to International Ministries, 1003 W. 9th Ave., Ste. A, King of Prussia, PA 19406. Thanks for your consideration and prayer.

Note of Scheduled Tribal Status: “Since the independence of India, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were given Reservation status, guaranteeing political representation, preference in promotion, quota in universities, free and stipended education, scholarships, banking services, various government schemes, and the Constitution lays down the general principles of positive discrimination for SCs and STs.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheduled_Castes_and_Scheduled_Tribes ).