Simmer, Boil

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“Dozens” of people have been killed over days of ethnic clashes between Christian tribes and a Hindu community in the northeastern state of Manipur, Indian officials said Monday, with mobs attacking homes, churches and temples, according to the BBC.

Indian officials deployed army troops and enforced a curfew in Manipur last week after violence broke out Wednesday between the predominantly Hindu Meitei community, which lives in the valley around the regional capital Imphal, and Christian tribes living in the surrounding hills, the Guardian reported.

Local police and paramilitary units were unable to control the violence and India’s home ministry sent in the army Thursday, with troops ordered to “shoot on sight.”

No exact death toll has been made available but scores have been injured, including two local politicians.

The clashes come amid historical ethnic grievances between the majority Meitei community and the Christian tribes.

For 20 years, the Meitei have requested the status of “scheduled tribe,” which would provide them access to government jobs and places at colleges reserved for specific groups. But the Christian tribes – who form 40 percent of Manipur’s population – counter that the Meitei are already an affluent and politically powerful majority, and are advantageously represented in the state’s legislature.

Last week’s skirmishes came a month after the Manipur high court issued an order urging the state government to approve the Meitei’s demand for scheduled tribe status, prompting protests by the Christian tribes.

Since then, authorities have evacuated more than 23,000 people, while around 9,000 have been forced to leave their homes to escape the violence.

The evacuation aims to relocate the Meitei from Christian tribal-dominated areas. Meanwhile, schools, colleges, offices, and shops have been closed and Internet access remains banned.