Christianity In Manipur
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
is the second largest religion in
Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
, a state in Northeast India, according to 2011 census. The tribal communities,
Kukis The Kuki people, or Kuki-Zo people,Rakhi BoseIn Tense Manipur, Sub-Categorisation And 'Creamy Layer' Could Open A Pandora's Box Outlook, 11 September 2024. uoting general secretary of the Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU), Kangpokpi''At prese ...
and Nagas are overwhelmingly Christian, along with their kindred communities in the neighbouring states. The dominant Meitei community has only small numbers of Christians, but Meitei groups claim Christianity to be a threat. At the start of the 2023–2024 Manipur violence, Meitei mobs burned down 200–300 churches in the
Imphal Valley Imphal Valley ( /ˈɪmpɑːl/; ) or Manipur Valley () is located in the Indian state of Manipur and is an irregular almost oval shaped canyon that was formed as a result of the multiple small rivers that originate from neighbouring hill regions ...
belonging to all communities, and prohibited pastors from rebuilding them.Churches and homes attacked and set ablaze in India violence
Sky News, 4 May 2023.
Ziya Us Salam
Christian groups, alarmed by church attacks in Manipur, urge Centre to start talks
''The Hindu'', 5 May 2023. "While the Kukis and other tribals in the districts close to Imphal are the main targets as a community, the churches targeted include those of the Christians in the Meitei community."
Aman Gupta

Mint, 19 June 2023. "249 churches belonging to Meitei Christians in Manipur have been destroyed within 36 hours, with some pastors told not to rebuild them, according to the Archbishop of Imphal."


Early missionaries

Christianity in Manipur can traced back to an
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
named William Pettigrew, who lived in India when Surchandra Singh was the
maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...
of Manipur. Pettigrew, who was born in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
and educated in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, applied to work with the Arthington Aborigines Mission in India and travelled to
Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
in 1890. He worked for two years in
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
and
Silchar Silchar is a city and the headquarters of the Cachar district of the state of Assam, India. It is second largest city of Assam after Guwahati in terms of population and GDP. It is also administrative capital of Barak Valley division. It is locate ...
. In 1891, Pettigrew applied for permission to work in Manipur, but this was not granted until 1894. He worked for a time as a teacher in
Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a ...
, teaching the children of government civil servants and soon afterwards opened a school for boys in Manipuri and established a permanent
mission station A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...
there.


Origins

The first Meitei to convert to Christianity is debated. It is traditionally believed that Angom Porom Singh of
Phayeng Phayeng is a small village in Imphal West district of Manipur, India. Intangible cultural heritage Death rites of Phayeng The Chapka Phayeng people of Manipur are a part of the Meitei people itself. But they have a unique culture of bur ...
was the first to be converted in around 1896, but another tradition says that Ningol Kaboklei met a Christian missionary in
Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...
(presently in Bangladesh) and converted to Christianity in around 1893, a few years prior to the arrival of William Pettigrew. In December 1912, Porom Singh became the headmaster of a school at Ukhrul, where his teaching responsibilities included preaching the
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
. He was one of only seven Christians who stood by Pettigrew. At the outbreak of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he helped Pettigrew raise a labour corps, later becoming a corps leader and an interpreter.


Followers

Protestants (mostly Baptist) outnumber
Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
in Manipur. A Manipur Baptist Convention exists. The Reformed Presbyterian Church North-East India Synod has its seat in Manipur. The Presbyterian Church in India and the
Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...
are present in the state, too. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Imphal has its seat in the state. The Manipur Section of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...
has about forty congregations. The All Manipur Christian Organisation (AMCO) exists.


Demography

As per the 2011 census, there are 1,179,043 Christians in Manipur, making up 41.3 percent of the population. Of these, 1,119,719 people are in the hill districts, where they make up 92 percent of population. The valley districts have 59,324 Christians, making up 3.6 percent of the population. Manipur's tribal communities are overwhelmingly Christian. With the exception of Kabui Nagas (who are 90 percent Christian), all other tribes have 97 or 98 percent Christianity. Thus the Christians in the valley districts would also be mostly tribals (56,913 in the 2011 census). The remaining 2,000–3,000 people would belong to the non-tribal communities including the
Meiteis The Meitei people, also known as Meetei people,P.20: "historically, academically and conventionally Manipuri prominently refers to the Meetei people."P.24: "For the Meeteis, Manipuris comprise Meeteis, Lois, Kukis, Nagas and Pangal." are a T ...
.


Tribes

Percentage of Christians in the Scheduled Tribes:


Persecution and violence

During the past seven decades,
Hindu nationalist Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...
organisations have demanded the revival of the indigenous faiths of tribal communities in
Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...
. The
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...
(RSS) has also demanded that the Scheduled Tribe status of tribals should be revoked unless they return to their indigenous faiths or Hinduism. It was reported that the Meiteis were alarmed by the rapid rise of Christianity in Manipur in recent years. Claims were made that there was a 62% increase of Christians in the state between 2001 and 2011, and that the valley districts saw a jump of 15%. In recent decades, the Meiteis aimed to revive the traditional religion called
Sanamahism Sanamahism , also known as Meiteism , or Lainingthouism is an ethnic religion of the Meitei people of Manipur, in Northeast India. It is a polytheistic religion and is named after Lainingthou Sanamahi, one of the most important deities of ...
, and many Meitei Hindus started adopting it. Pressure was brought on Meitei Christians as well to convert to Sanamahism. The Meitei activists organisations Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun instrumental in applying this pressure, as well as the leadership of the ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
(BJP). According to Meitei pastors, the terms of conversion for Meitei Christians required them to personally burn the Bible, remove all Christian symbols from their homes, and sign a legal affidavit declaring their conversion to Sanamahism. There were various points of tension between the Meitei Christians and non-Christians in the months prior to May 2023. A rally held by Meitei Christian MLA Paonam Brojen Singh came in for criticism because he is alleged to have admired tribal Christians for their recent progress and claimed that Meiteis were being held back by their "old religion". After the
ethnic violence An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's position within so ...
started in May 2023, a mob of several thousand people attacked his house. The 2023 ethnic violence started on 3 May at the border between Kuki-dominated
Churachandpur district Churachandpur District (Meitei language, Meitei pronunciation: ''/tʃʊraːˌtʃaːnɗpʊr/''), is one of the 16 List of districts of Manipur, districts of the Indian state of Manipur populated mainly by Kuki-Zo people. The name honours former M ...
and Meitei-dominated
Bishnupur district Bishnupur district ( Meitei pronunciation: /ˌbɪʃnʊˈpʊə/) or Bishenpur district, is a district of Manipur state in northeastern India. Etymology Its name is derived from a Vishnu temple located at Lamangdong. Geography Bishnupur tow ...
, soon after a tribal solidarity march held by tribals against a Meitei demand for Scheduled Tribe status. The first victim of the violence was a pastor from Torbung
Kangvai Kangvai is a village in the Churachandpur district of Manipur, India, near its contested border with Bishnupur district. It is on the bank of the Kangvai stream that flows down from the eastern slopes of the Thangjing Hill into the Imphal Valley, s ...
area called Haopu Kipgen, who was bludgeoned to death. The violence spread to Churachandpur Town and the Imphal City on the same day, and to the rest of
Imphal Valley Imphal Valley ( /ˈɪmpɑːl/; ) or Manipur Valley () is located in the Indian state of Manipur and is an irregular almost oval shaped canyon that was formed as a result of the multiple small rivers that originate from neighbouring hill regions ...
quickly afterwards. A very large number of churches (estimates ranging from 200 to 300) were burnt down by Meitei mobs in the next few days. The Catholic Archbishop of Imphal Dominic Lumon has said that 249 churches were burnt down in 36 hours.Archbishop of Imphal claims 249 churches burnt in Manipur: ‘Religious attack carried out’
The Indian Express, 18 June 2023.
While he claimed that all these churches belonged to Meitei Christians, it was not corroborated by others. Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das said 18 churches belonging to the Meitei community and 2 churches belonging to the Naga community were destroyed, while the others were of unspecified affiliation. Many of the destroyed churches are believed to have served multiple communities. Some of the pastors had to flee under the cover of darkness to escape death. After this initial spurt of destruction, the Christians in the valley appear to have been extensively persecuted. A pastor said that a mob forcefully entered his home and burned all Christian texts, including the Bible. Most pastors were found to be too afraid to speak to journalists. Some were beaten up. Some had fled the state. Others were forced to convert to Sanamahism. There were also attempts to downplay the role of extremist Sanamahi groups and push the blame on to the Kuki people. The Meitei Christian Churches Council issued a press statement claiming that all the destruction of Meitei Christian properties was carried out by the Kukis. But the Archbishop denied it, saying there was no evidence for the claim. Philem Rohan Singh, a celebrity cyclist who emerged as a Meitei Christian leader after the violence, claimed that the Kukis had burnt down Meitei Christian churches in the Kuki-dominated districts, giving a list of such churches. Again this was denied by the Archbishop as well as journalists who verified that many of those churches were still standing unharmed. Surinder Kaur
Meitei Christians Caught in Middle of Manipur Violence
Christianity Today, 30 May 2023.
Karan Thapar Karan Thapar (born 5 November 1955) is an Indian journalist, news presenter and interviewer working with The Wire. Thapar was associated with CNN-IBN and hosted ''The Devil's Advocate'' and ''The Last Word''. Some of the celebrities he has int ...

249 Meitei Churches in Valley Burnt Not By Kukis But May Be By Tenggol, Leepun: Archbishop of Imphal
The Wire, via Youtube, 1 August 2023.
Rohan Singh also claimed that an agreement had been reached with Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun to resume church services in the valley. However the displaced pastors did not believe the claim saying he could have said under threats. There were also efforts to paint the Manipur violence as a purely ethnic clash, with no religious angle. The BJP quoted Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay, as stating this. However, Archbishop Lumon took a firm stand in an interview with
Karan Thapar Karan Thapar (born 5 November 1955) is an Indian journalist, news presenter and interviewer working with The Wire. Thapar was associated with CNN-IBN and hosted ''The Devil's Advocate'' and ''The Last Word''. Some of the celebrities he has int ...
, pointing out the attacks on Meitei Christian churches and pastors. The British Foreign Secretary
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
made a similar point in the House of Lords, based a report by David Campanale. The Meitei groups continue to make the claim.


List of denominations

Sources: * Evangelical Congregational Church *
United Pentecostal Church International The United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination headquartered in Weldon Spring, Missouri. The United Pentecostal Church International was formed in 1945 by a merger of the former Pentecostal Church, Inc. ...
* Kuki Baptist Convention * Kuki Christian Church * Manipur Baptist Convention *
The Pentecostal Mission The Pentecostal Mission (TPM), also known as Ceylon Pentecostal Mission (CPM) in Sri Lanka, New Testament Church (NTC) in the United States, Grace New Covenant Pentecostal Church in Canada and Universal Pentecostal Church (UPC) in the United K ...
* Presbyterian Church in India (Reformed) *
Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
* Manipur Evangelical Lutheran Church (49) 8,500 MELC INDIA - Manipur Evangelical Lutheran Church, India
(formerly known as Zomi Christian Church)
*
Christian Revival Church The Christian Revival Church is a Full Gospel, Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian denomination in India. History The CRC was started at Gariphema Village, Nagaland, India on 9 January 1962 as Christian Revival Church (CRC) by Re ...


See also

*
List of Christian denominations in North East India The following shows the Christian denominations present in Northeast India, along with number of churches and approximate number of Church members. Anglican * Church of North India (CNI) ** Diocese of Northeast India (275) 50,000 * Church of ...
*
Christian Revival Church The Christian Revival Church is a Full Gospel, Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian denomination in India. History The CRC was started at Gariphema Village, Nagaland, India on 9 January 1962 as Christian Revival Church (CRC) by Re ...


Notes


References


External links


Churches destroyed during 3–5 May 2023
Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations (FIACONA), 28 May 2023. {{Churches in India