Christians in the Manipur region of India are suffering a “grave and escalating humanitarian crisis” thanks to the continuing effects of appalling sectarian violence that broke out three years ago.
In 2023 mass riots erupted, with the Hindu Meitei community targeting the predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo people. Official records state that as of March 2026 there are still 58,821 people in relief camps. Some 7,894 homes are recorded as having been destroyed in the violence, with another 2,646 partially destroyed.
258 people were confirmed killed during the violence, most of them Kuki-Zo, but with a significant number of Meiteis also among the dead. Sexual violence, including the gang rape of Kuki-Zo women was also reported.
While the worst of the violence has petered out, the region is now in an effective cold war situation in which the Kuki-Zo and Meitei are separated by “buffer zones” controlled by the government.
Christian activists have taken issue with the government response to the violence. Former president of the All India Catholic Union, John Doyal, wrote for The Quint, “The violence that tore Manipur apart along its ethnic fault lines completes three years in a condition worse than when the killings began, with an inevitable religious separation.”
Doyal took issue with the fact that not a single person has been convicted for any of the murders, rapes or arson attacks committed during the violence.
Many in the Christian community have said they will not participate in the new state administration due to unresolved ethnic grievances. Many among the Kuki-Zo believe that the state did nothing to prevent the violence and may even have joined in.
One woman who was gang-raped told The Indian Express that she was taken from her home by the police and left with a mob by the roadside.
The United Christian Forum has written to the chief minister of Manipur saying that more needs to be done to resolve a “grave and escalating humanitarian crisis".
Those in refugee camps struggle for basic necessities and many Christians are prevented from visiting, returning to or rebuilding their homes and places of worship due to the presence of armed Hindu militants.
