A Lord Shiva temple was partially damaged after some people sneaked into the compound at night and set it on fire in Manipur’s Senapati district. Sources said the temple was attacked twice weeks apart, adding it caught fire in the second attack in the early hours today.
CCTV footage from the temple shows a burning log being thrown towards a door inside the temple’s courtyard.
In another footage, which locals said is from the first attack, a masked man is seen hiding behind a pillar for some time, before he ran away.
Residents and temple caretakers managed to douse the fire before it spread, a local civil society organisation told NDTV.
The Naga Peoples’ Organisation (NPO) and the Karong-Senapati Town Committee (KSTC) in a joint statement strongly condemned the attempt to burn the Shri Shri Pashupati Nath Mandir.
“… Senapati is a peace-loving town where everyone has been practising their religion. Any element which works to break the social serenity is highly condemnable,” the two organisations said in the statement.
They asked the police to catch the suspects immediately.
Sources alleged the arson was meant to create communal and ethnic tension amid the violence between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes.
READ | Cross Installed Atop Manipur’s “Sacred” Hill Threatens Fragile Peace
Manipur Rajya Sabha MP Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba in a post on X condemned the attack on the temple.
“Strongly condemn looting and setting of Shri Pashupati Nath Mandir, Senapati, Manipur on fire at around 1 am of 25/9/24. Every responsible citizen should condemn such barbaric acts as an infringement on secularism. The culprit(s) should be booked at the earliest,” he said.
Strongly condemn Looting & setting of Shri Pashupati Nath Mandir, Senapati, Manipur on fire at around 1 am of 25/9/24.
Every responsible citizen should condemn such barbaric act bcoz it’s an infringement of Secularism. The culprit (s) should be booked at the earliest. @AmitShah pic.twitter.com/U2L0M4Q240
— Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba. (@MaharajaManipur) September 25, 2024
A police officer in Senapati told NDTV they have taken the matter very seriously as it seemed the suspects wanted to create communal tension in the multi-ethnic district that has remained free from violence, amid the Meitei-Kuki clashes that began in May 2023.
The officer said they are investigating the matter. The police are, however, yet to give a full statement on the matter.
Many places of worship of both the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribes, who are dominant in the hill districts in southern Manipur and a few other areas, were destroyed last year.
The Meiteis have alleged Kuki armed groups of destroying religious sites in the hills that are considered sacred by the valley-dominant community. The Kukis have pointed at destruction of churches in the valley areas.
Though the Manipur ethnic crisis is primarily linked to disagreements over share of affirmative action policies, political power and land rights, among other issues, the religious conflict angle keeps surfacing occasionally.
READ | Entire Colony Razed, Manipur’s Churachandpur Meiteis At Crossroads, Seek Justice
There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.
The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.
Many distinct tribes such as Thadou and Hmar come under Manipur’s Scheduled Tribes (ST) list, one of which also includes a catch-all nomenclature called ‘Any Kuki Tribes’, re-added in 2003 after its deletion in 1956. The Meiteis have accused organisations that represent the Kuki tribes in Manipur’s Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts of using the term “tribal” despite numerous other tribes not being part of these organisations or involved in the ethnic violence
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