Will Manipur violence undo BJP's efforts to woo Christians?

New Delhi: The unabated violence in Manipur has put a spanner in the efforts of the ruling BJP to woo Christians ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The violence in the North-Eastern state took a communal overtone with a fight between mostly Hindu Meiteis and mostly Christian Kukis. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have been displaced ever since ethnic violence broke out in the state in May. Both Kukis and Meities have suffered from the brutal violence but there have been allegations that the ruling dispensation in Manipur is biased in favour of Meities.

Before the violence started in Manipur, the BJP’s efforts to woo Christians were in full swing.

The release of the movie “The Kerala Story” saw such efforts reaching a crescendo with BJP chief ministers and top party leaders going for the special screening of the movie and providing tax-free status to the film in their respective states. The film’s story was inspired by real-life incidents in which a few Christian girls from Kerala converted to Islam and married Muslim boys and then travelled to Afghanistan with them.

“The BJP tried to make it a poll issue. The party was hoping to carry on in the same spirit even after the electoral loss in Karnataka but the violence in Manipur and its communal overtone has created a problem for the BJP if it wants to keep Christians in its fold keeping in mind that the 2024 general elections are less than a year away” said a source.

Not only internally where the Modi government is facing a demand from the opposition to have a detailed discussion on Manipur in the parliament, the issue has taken an international dimension too.

The Modi government has also taken note of the statements made by the US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti who “expressed” his willingness to assist India in restoring peace in the troubled state.

The unprecedented statement from the US ambassador which was rightly condemned by former diplomats, didn’t come out of the blue and it was a well-thought-out step to tell the Indian government that the US is keeping a watch on the situation in Manipur, felt security officials.

They pointed out the influence that Christian donor organisations have in US politics. Similarly, the European Union parliament too adopted a motion on the Manipur violence which stated, “Whereas violence in India’s Manipur state has erupted along ethnic and religious lines between the mainly Hindu Meitei community and the Christian Kuki tribe, leading to a cycle of violence with over 100 people killed, over 40,000 displaced and the destruction of property and places of worship. Whereas Manipur has previously faced secessionist insurgencies in which serious human rights abuses were committed. Whereas, in the latest round of violence human rights groups have accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government in Manipur and nationally of implementing divisive ethnonationalistic policies which oppress in particular religious minorities."

The external affairs ministry called the resolution a reflection of the colonial mindset and added that such interference in the internal affairs of India was unacceptable.