The pro-Hindu government in India’s Manipur state demolished three churches in the wee hours of April 11 to avoid communal clashes (Photo supplied)
Apr 13 2023
MANIPU, Indias – Christian leaders in India’s northeastern Manipur state have appealed for peace after government agencies demolished three churches, saying they were built on unauthorized land.
The state government, run by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, initiated the demolition of churches claiming that they were built on government land in a tribal colony in the capital Imphal.
Government agencies demolished the churches on April 11 early morning, probably to avoid people’s resistance and violence, said Father Francis Vialo, financial administrator of Imphal Archdiocese.
The demolished churches belong to Catholic, Baptist and Lutheran Churches, Vialo told UCA News on Apr 12.
The catholic priest said his diocese bought the land of the demolished Holy Spirit Church some 20 years ago from a person.
The case has been going on for more than four years now.
In 2020, “when we challenged the government order in court, our case could not stand” because the seller had fraudulently created documents to sell the land to us, the priest said.
However, the court stayed the government order and allowed the status quo till March 2023.
The Manipur High Court vacated its 2020 order for status quo on Apr 4 this year, and the demolition happened within days, Vialo said.
The High Court vacated the status quo order after the churches failed to provide documentary proof to prove that the churches were built on lands legally owned by them.
“We accept the demolition as it is the government’s order. We ask our people to stay calm and pray for peace in the locality,” Vialo said.
Allen Brooks, the spokesperson for United Christian Forum North East India, in a statement, appealed to all Catholics to continue to pray for peace and harmony.
Reverend Jangkholun Mangte, the pastor of Zomi Christian Fellowship Church, an inter-denominational fellowship of students and families from India’s seven northeastern states, told UCA News that “we asked our people to pray for peace and be vigilant as it should not turn as disharmony in the locality.”
Both Hindus and Christians roughly form 41 percent each of the 3.2 million people population. The rest 8 percent are Muslims. – UCA News
