Manipur missionary schools under threat from militants

Manipur missionary schools under threat from militants
SAMUDRA GUPTA KASHYAP

GUWAHATI, MARCH 8: When Father Mathew Manianchira, principal of the Catholic School at Canchipur near Imphal, was shot dead on April 29, 1990, almost everybody thought it was a case of mistaken identity on the part of the insurgents.

But over the years, more than a dozen Christian missionaries have been killed in Manipur, ringing alarm bells all over the North-East. The latest victim was Father Tommy Manjaly, principal of the same Catholic School at Canchipur. Father Tommy was attacked by a group of unidentified gunmen in the school campus on February 2, evoking large-scale protests in the state.

On December 2 last year, Father Sajan Jacob Chittinapilly, the assistant parish priest of St Joseph Parish at Sugunu in Thoubal district, was shot dead after being abducted from the church jeep by two gunmen. His body was recovered from a field about 25 km away the next day.

The situation threatens to spiral out of control since the militants retaliate with violence when their demands are not accepted. And this time, they have demanded Rs 2 crore each from eight Catholic schools in the state's capital of Imphal.

The schools say they don't have that kind of money and will be forced to close down in the wake of the threat. The original demand was Rs 50,000 each in November, which was hiked to Rs 5 lakh when the missionaries refused to pay up. This was later hiked to Rs 2 crore.

Principals and headmasters of some of the schools -- including Don Bosco -- have already left town for fear of being attacked, sources said.

``The outlawed People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Revolutionary Front (RPF) combine is behind this extortion drive,'' confirmed Manipur Director General of Police D.S. Grewal. Talking to The Indian Express over the telephone from Imphal, he said this demand had created a fear psychosis among Christian missionaries working in the state.

The DGP also claimed that some Catholic organisations had paid money to the militant groups in the past, thus making it easier for them to come up with similar demands again. However, he did not name the schools.

The DGP also said that though authorities have stepped up security around the schools, ``it is not possible to provide security cover to every individual''.

However, a senior missionary in Imphal -- who refused to be named -- denied the DGP's version that any missionary school had paid money to the militants. ``We have been serving the state and its people under tremendous pressure, but hardly do we get the kind of security that we need,'' he said.

While most earlier incidents of militants targeting Catholic institutions occurred in the outlying districts of the state, the schools in the capital are now increasingly becoming soft targets. The Little Flower School in the heart of Imphal was ransacked in 1996, with militants destroying computers, books and other valuables after their demand for money was turned down.

This time too the Little Flower School has figured in the list of the eight schools told to pay up, and school authorities have chosen to close it down, leaving the fate of several hundred students hanging in the balance.Students of the Nirmalabas School in the city also face an uncertain future as this school too has closed down for the time being.

Christianity came to Manipur more than 100 years ago, and there are about 800 Christian missionaries from outside the North-East working in different schools, churches and other institutions in the state. In fact, the killing of Father Jacob Chittinapilly last year had led to massive protests in the state and a huge rally was organised in Imphal on December 10.

Meanwhile, Rev. S.K. Hikey, chairman of the All Manipur Catholic Organisation and Rev. Edmund Chiphang, president of the All Manipur Catholic Union, have rushed separate memorandums to the President and Prime Minister, urging them to immediately intervene.

Rev. Joseph Mittathany, Archbishop of the Imphal diocese, has also sent a fax message to the President and the Prime Minister with a similar appeal.