TELLICHERRY (UCAN): Archbishop Joseph Pamplany of Tellicherry called the ongoing sectarian violence in northeastern Manipur state “ethnic-cleansing of Christians” and criticised the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP]-led government for its failure to restore peace after nearly two months and more than 130 deaths. It marked a departure from the Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church’s previous stand toward India’s ruling party
Christians make up 41.29 per cent of the hilly state’s 3.2 million people.
The archbishop, in one of the strongest criticisms of the BJP from any Church leader in India, equated the sectarian violence in Manipur to the 2002 riots in Gujarat state, where some 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed when the present prime minister, Narendra Modi, was its chief minister.
In an official release from the Syro-Malabar Church on June 30, Archbishop Pamplany from southern Kerala state, dared Modi to repeat his claim, made during a press conference with US president, Joe Biden, that there was no religious discrimination in India.”
The archbishop, in one of the strongest criticisms of the BJP from any Church leader in India, equated the sectarian violence in Manipur to the 2002 riots in Gujarat state
The archbishop told a solidarity meeting in Kannur, in Kerala, on June 28, “When such ethnic cleansing is happening in our country, our prime minister told the American Congress that there is absolutely no discrimination in India.”
He added, “Honorable prime minister, we have to ask you this: can you keep your hand on your chest and tell the suffering Christians of Manipur that there is no religious discrimination in this country?”
The Syro-Malabar Church was seen as hobnobbing with the pro-Hindu party ahead of the 2024 national elections while.
Archbishop Pamplany courted controversy in March after he offered to help the BJP win a parliamentary seat in Kerala in exchange for increasing the rubber prices to Rs. 300 [$29.4] per kilogramme. Syro-Malabar Christians in Kerala are mostly farmers, a majority of them engaged in rubber cultivation.
The archbishop had drawn criticism from inside and outside the Church for his remarks.
Honorable prime minister, we have to ask you this: can you keep your hand on your chest and tell the suffering Christians of Manipur that there is no religious discrimination in this country?
Archbishop Pamplany
Amid the rising persecution of Christians and Muslims, George Cardinal Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, too, had given a clean ticket to the BJP, saying Christians do not feel insecure under its rule.
Cardinal Alencherry made the controversial statement in an interview published by The New Indian Express on April 9.
Many influential BJP leaders have met Eastern rite bishops as part of an outreach programme to woo Christians in the state.
Their bonhomie drew criticism from within the Church as Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore, along with other Christian groups, filed a petition in the country’s top court seeking direction to end the persecution of Christians.
The latest U-turn by Archbishop Pamplany has won the hearts of the worst critics of the Syro-Malabar Church leadership.
The violence has claimed more than 130 lives as of June 30, but a realistic head count could increase the number considerably, Church leaders said
Shaiju Antony, a leader of the Archdiocesan Movement for Transparency [ATM] in Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, lauded the archbishop for making a stand.
The ATM has locked horns with the Church over a decades-old liturgy dispute, but its lay Catholic leader, in a video message on June 30, said: “At least now, the Syro-Malabar Church leadership understood the reality in Manipur and responded positively.”
Antony welcomed it as “a laudable step” and added: “It is better to be late than never.”
Manipur has been gripped by violence and bloodshed since May 3.
Tribal groups, comprising mainly Christians, are fighting against the majority Meitei Hindu community opposing the Meitei demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribe category to avail benefits of the reservation quota under India’s affirmative action plan.
Christian leaders say some 50,000 Kuki people have been displaced and live in some 300 relief camps, and they get little support from the state administration. Many have taken shelter in the forest and close to 300 churches have been set on fire.
The violence has claimed more than 130 lives as of June 30, but a realistic head count could increase the number considerably, Church leaders said.
