A B’nei Menashe Reports From the Front Lines

(June 15, 2023) While peace talks went nowhere, the Meitei-Kuki conflict continued unabated in Manipur this week, with fighting flaring up in several places along the border between the state’s Meitei-dominated central valley and its Kuki-dominated hills. In one of these locations on the valley’s north side, a village of several thousand inhabitants whose name we were asked not to disclose, lives a small B’nei Menashe community. Our Newsletter spoke this week with one of its members. Here is our conversation.

Your village has been on the front line for many weeks now. How many of its residents have fled and how many have remained?

It’s actually been about two or three weeks, because the fighting came to the north of the valley later than elsewhere. Not a single resident of the village has left. We have all decided to stay put and fight for as long and as much as necessary. This includes the B’nei Menashe community.

Do the B’nei Menashe think of this as their fight, too?

Yes. We’re Jewish but we’re also Kukis. It’s important for us to show solidarity with our brothers. In terms of men and material, we’ve participated and contributed all we can. Our B’nei Menashe youngsters take part in guarding and defending the village along with the other volunteers. It’s our duty to stand with our fellow villagers. If the village is overrun, we’re not going to be treated any differently by the Hindu Meiteis because we’re Jews rather than Christians like our neighbors.

There have been so far many attacks on our village but we’ve been able to turn them all back. The Meiteis come in force, in the hundreds and sometimes more. I’m confident that we’ll continue to hold out.

Smokes billowing out of a burnt village, file photo.

Who are the attackers?

They’ve been led by two Meitei nationalist organizations, Arambai Tenggol and Meetei Leepun, aided by the state police and the IRB or Indian Reserve Battalion, which is a para-military group consisting mainly of Meiteis.

You mean the Manipuri state government has actually been fighting along with the Meiteis?

It’s given them logistical support. They come in armored vehicles, with sophisticated weapons and even mortars. They’ve been using drones for surveillance. We see them overhead all the time. We even managed to shoot one of them down. Since then the Meiteis have been careful to fly them from a safe distance, out of range of our guns. They’re very well equipped, far better than we are. To tell the truth, our most powerful weapon is our prayers. It’s a miracle from God that we’re still here.

How close have the attackers actually come? What damage and casualties have you suffered?

So far, they haven’t penetrated our village. The fighting has been right below us, in the valley, where there are quite a few Kuki villages. Most have been burned and destroyed. We’re on the slopes above. Our big advantage is that we’re familiar with the terrain. The Meiteis only know how to fight in large formations, which does not work well in the hills. We know just where to position ourselves in order to pick them off.

Fortunately, casualties in our village have so far been low. In the fighting last week, we estimate that at least 20 Meiteis were killed, whereas we had no dead and five wounded, one grazed by a bullet and four with minor injuries from a grenade launcher. Things could be worse. The Meiteis are not good soldiers. They’re usually drugged when they come to fight.

Drugged?

I’m telling you what I’ve heard. Look, this isn’t pleasant for anyone. The difference is that they’re far from their homes. They’re coming from somewhere else to risk getting killed, while we’re defending our lives and property. I’ve heard that they’re given drugs to boost their courage.

Map of Manipur showing lines of intensive fighting, in blue.

What about food and supplies? Have the villagers been able to work?

No, we haven’t been able to go to our rice fields. Nobody ventures beyond the perimeter of the village. It’s too risky. But we haven’t, thank God, had to worry too much about food. We’re getting it from Kangpokpi [a Kuki town to the north], from which the supply lines are open all the way up to Nagaland. There are humanitarian organizations that have seen it that we have enough rice, and I’ve been told that the Nagaland and Mizoram governments are also sending aid to the Kukis. The situation is better here than in Imphal or the valley. I’ve heard that Meitei blackmarketeers there are having a field day overcharging for basic commodities. Talk about preying on your own people! But that's what the Meiteis are like.

What kind of arms do you have?

At first we had only single-shot hunting rifles, which we put to good use. Later on, as the fighting intensified and Meitei casualties increased, we took automatic rifles from their dead. There were even Meiteis who threw them away when they fled. I can’t tell you for security reasons how many of them we have, but there are enough for whoever needs them. The same holds true for the Kuki villages near us. And we have the pumpi. It’s very effective.

What’s a pumpi?

It’s a homemade cannon, made of whatever materials we can get hold of. The barrel can be made from a simple metal water pipe or hollow metal electric post. I myself have been busy making them, which is why I haven’t been out manning the village perimeter. Since the fighting began, I’ve manufactured 11 of them. I’m now working on the 12th. It’s my latest design and will be the best one yet.

Can you tell me about it? How will it work?

I can’t reveal much about it, but I can say that it will have a longer range, carry a bigger explosive charge, and be more accurate.

Pumpi, an improvised, home-made portable cannon.

What range are we talking about?

That, too, is confidential, but the pumpi has worked well until now and this will be an improved model. One good thing about it is that you don’t need specific-caliber ammunition. It can be loaded with anything – nails, metal pellets, whatever an ordinary metal worker can provide you with.

What about the explosive charge– the gunpowder?

Take my word for it, the jungle around us has everything we need to make gunpowder. Our forefathers made it for generations and passed the knowledge on to us. The forests are our guardians: we can find in them all we need to survive, and maybe a bit more.

What about Jewish life? Have the B’nei Menashe in your village been able to conduct it normally?

It’s too dangerous for us to congregate in our synagogue. There’s a nearby village called Khoken in which Meitei infiltrators dressed in army uniforms killed three people last week and wounded more by firing on a church in which there was a prayer service. The village authorities have warned us against group gatherings that might serve as targets. There’s no coercion involved, just safety concerns. We pray and observe our Jewish rituals at home, always on high alert. Much of our free time is spent reading Psalms.

What about the future? What happens next?

This conflict will not be resolved soon. The divide is too deep and will only grow deeper because of the Meiteis’ greed for our lands. This time we were caught napping. The government is on the Meiteis’ side. I don’t know if they can actually drive us out of Manipur, but they’re going to try. Even after the Home Minister of India called for a 15-day cease-fire, they went on attacking Kuki villages. We Kukis lifted a road block from Kangpokpi to Imphal in response to the minister’s appeal, but had to re-impose it after what happened at Khoken. The Meiteis are holding peace rallies and pressing their attacks at the same time. There can’t be any trust with that kind of hypocrisy. The Meitei chief minister of Manipur, N. Biren Singh, is posing as part of the peace effort while fomenting the violence. If it’s his idea of a joke, it’s a cruel one.

Note: Shortly after this interview earlier this week, newspapers reported that 9 Meitei raiders were gunned down by Kuki village guards at a church in a Kuki village, Khamenlok in the Kuki majority Kangpokpi district. There were 10 others injured. The incident occurred between 10 p.m and 10:30 p.m on the night of 13th June. They were part of 3000 strong Meitei mobs who had come to torch Kuki villages near Saikul. The raiding party had decided to rest for the night at the abandoned church. No arms were recovered, most likely having been picked up by the village guards. According to sources, most of the dead were identified as residents of Imphal, several kilometers from Khamenlok, refuting the claims by Meiteis that they were defending their villages. As of this article going to press, there are reports of arson, unrest in the capital, Imphal.

Mapping the Troubles

(June 8, 2023) As the current crisis in Manipur entered its second month this week, violence between the majority Meiteis and minority Kukis flared in many places. These were concentrated along the line separating Manipur’s Central Valley, a traditionally Meitei area centering on Manipur’s capital of Imphal, and the predominantly Kuki hills surrounding it. As of now, an unofficial population exchange has taken place, many thousands of Kukis having been driven from the valley and some of its adjacent hill villages, and a smaller number of Meiteis having fled in the opposite direction. Although each side has accused the other of instigating the violence, the evidence clearly points to a premeditated Meitei campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Despite a visit to the area of Indian Interior Minister Amit Shah at the beginning of June, tensions continue to run high. In response to Kuki demands that the Kuki-controlled areas of Manipur be given a separate administrative status that would remove them from Meitei control, the Indian government has invited leaders of the Kuki and Naga communities to discuss the situation with federal officials in New Delhi. (The Nagas, Christians like the Kukis as opposed to the Hindu Meiteis, are concentrated in the higher altitudes of Manipur’s hill country.) A joint Kuki-Naga autonomous region has been mooted, although at the moment it is a vague concept.

Pastor Abe Oomen and his team at Aizawl, overseeing relief distribution.

The situation of Manipur’s estimated 3,500 B’nei Menashe, all ethnically Kuki, remains unchanged. Some 650 have fled their homes, mostly to three locations: the largely Kuki town of Kangpokpi in Manipur’s north; the heavily Kuki Churachandpur, Manipur’s second largest city, in the state; and the neighboring state of Mizoram further to the southwest, where there is a smaller B’nei Menashe community of about 1,000. Joining Degel Menashe week in providing humanitarian aid and food relief for the B’nei Menashe refugees was the Kerala-based Christian evangelical organization Ebenezer Operation Exodus, which has in the past raised funds for the Aliyah of Jews to Israel. Led by Pastor Abe Thomas Oomenn, the organization distributed 9.5 tons of relief materials, mostly rice, in Manipur, and another 1.2 tons in Mizoram.

To help our readers to understand the situation in Manipur and Mizoram better, we have chosen this week to publish maps of the two states. In Manipur, the Central Valley is indicated by the area marked around 1. Other localities are numbered according to the following key:

1. As per the 2011 census, Imphal has population of 277,196 (The 2021 census had been postponed due to covid 19). Of these, the Kuki comprise about 20,000, including the B'nei Menashe who account for barely about 300. The number rises to 650 if we include the other two communities of Sajal and Kangchup in the valley area. As of now, Imphal has been cleansed of all its Kuki population.

2. Sajal is a small hamlet which lies southwest of Imphal in the Kuki dominated Kangpokpi district. However, it is closer to the Meitei dominated Bishnupur district and more accessible from there. The village has a population of about 350, entirely Kuki. The B'nei Menashe are little more than half of the village’s population, with the headman being a B'nei Menashe. The village, in its entirety, has been razed to the ground, including the synagogue and the Torah, by vigilantes belong to a Meitei rivalist group called the Arambai Tenggol on the 3rd of May 2023 (Please see our article dated 11th May, A Sajal Survivor Tells his Story). Survivors have fled to Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and even to the neighboring Mizoram.

3. Kangchup lies northwest of Imphal. It has a population of about 300, entirely Kuki with about 100 Bnei Menashe. It lies in the Imphal West district. It has mostly been burnt and abandoned, the survivors having fled to Kuki dominated areas like Kangpokpi and Churachandpur.

A refugee child leaving for a shelter, file photo.

4. Another tiny hamlet of about 300 people, Gamgiphai lies on the border of Kangpokpi and the Meitei dominated town of Sekmai in Imphal West district. It has a very small Bnei Menashe population of about 10 families. Due to its location, it has been a scene of intense fighting with Meitei groups attempting to make incursions several times, unsuccessfully, as it stands today.

5. The villages of Kangvai and Sugnu. Kangvai is situated on the northern Churachandpur border with the Meitei Bishnupur district and Sugnu is in the Meitei majority Kakching district on the border with Churachandpur. While Kangvai is wholly Kuki, Sugnu has a mixed population of Kukis and Meiteis. In early May, when the conflict began Kangvai saw heavy fighting, the Meitei group Arambai Tenggol supported by the state police made several attempts to capture and bring it under its control. They were met with stiff resistance by the village volunteers who managed to stave off successive attacks. Unconfirmed reports say that the Meiteis lost about 60 compared to 15 loss admitted by the village volunteers. Having failed here, the Meiteis shifted their focus to Sugnu, which is east of Kangvai. Up until now, there has been intense fighting. It may be noted that during the Indian Home minister’s visit last week to hold a 15 day ceasefire, a couple of Kuki villages were burnt in that area. As in Kangvai, there is a stalemate with reports of heavy losses on the Meitei side. Neither of the two have Bnei Menashe population.

A displaced family finds refuge at the Rav Avichayil Memorial School with relief arranged by Degel Menashe.

6. Kangpokpi town has a population of 7,476 as per 2011 census and is home to about 300 Bnei Menashe. With the recent influx of displaced people seeking shelter it has grown to about 400. Some half of them have found refuge with relatives and the rest have been put up at the local Beit Shalom synagogue premises. Degel Menashe has provided relief materials in terms of grain and medicines. The main supply line to Imphal passes through it and it had been blocked following the conflict. In the recent plea by the Indian Home minister the highway had been opened much to the chagrin of the local population who are mainly Kukis.

7. Churachandpur is home to roughly about half of the 5,000 Bnei Menashe in the region. There are about 15 communities and synagogues. The main town has a population of about 120,000 and is the second largest city in Manipur after the capital Imphal. Most of the displaced Bnei Menashe have found refuge here, numbers estimate that anywhere between 500 to 600. Degel Menashe has concentrated its relief programs here given the size. About 3.5 tons have been distributed along with some medical attention to those who require it. Operation Exodus has dispensed a large amount of aid as Shavei Israel has too but reports have not reached our newsletter to what extent.

8. Ever since the conflict began, flow of goods and foodstuff had been suspended from Imphal by the Meitei groups. That led to the largely unused southern road to Mizoram being opened up to traffic. It has become a lifeline for the people of Churachandpur. So far, according to reports, close to 10,000 bags of rice (a staple) have been delivered so far, besides others.

9, 10. Besides Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, two other northern towns, Bairabi and Kolasib have seen a flow of refugees. While the the numbers of those seeking refuge in Mizoram is estimated at over 8,000, the Bnei Menashe account for about 200, a tiny fraction. But as things look now, the conflict does not seem to have any resolution in sight in the near future, the numbers will only grow. Some B'nei Menashe going to Bairabi and Kolasib are joining family members who live there.

Official figures for the current conflagration stands at 90 dead, 300 injured and 2000 houses, besides 200 plus churches and a synagogue burnt. Actual figures are bound to be much higher. The state has seen a suspension of internet services for a month now and there is no knowing when it will be restored. It may be noted that 4000 arms and 500,000 rounds of ammunition were looted from the state armories by various Meitei groups. After an appeal, about 800 have been returned or recovered, the rest remain at large. The sheer amount of arms in the hands of unauthorized people does not forebode well for peace initiatives that are mooted. In the meantime, with economic hardship faced by the population, it will only be wise to keep the relief programs going.

B’nei Menashe have been continuing to flow to Mizoram in gradually increasing numbers. Unlike the first wave,

B'nei Menashe children in their new surrounding, attend school at Kolasib.

those now streaming south, some from Churachandpur itself, it in the future, as well as of general social and economic uncertainty. The displaced persons in Mizoram are being taken care of by the government and NGOs such as the YMA, Young Mizo Association. Meitei-Kuki tensions in Manipur, which have been brewing for long decades, are likely to get worse before they can get better. There is only one answer to this fear for all the B’nei Menashe of Manipur: Aliyah to Israel as soon as possible.

Degel Menashe Head Participates in Haifa Seminar

(June 8, 2023) At a half-day seminar held at Haifa University on June 1 on the history of the Jews of India, the story of the B’nei Menashe was presented by Degel Menashe’s managing director Yitzhak Thangjom. In a talk entitled “A Community in Transit from India to Israel,” Thangjom sketched the history of the B’nei Menashe, their current situation, and the challenges facing them in both India’s two states of Manipur and Mizoram and in Israel. “To the best of my knowledge,” he told our Newsletter, “this is the first time an Israeli university had held such an event. It was intended as an initial step toward integrating the experience of Indian Jewry into mainstream Jewish history. I’m glad to note that the B’nei Menashe is now considered an integral part of that story, both by the Indian Jewish community in Israel and by the Israeli academy.”

Other speakers at the Seminar included Oshrit Birvadker, a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and a student of India-Israel relations; Professor Rotem Kowner, a historian at Haifa’s Department of East Asian Studies; Noga Cochavi, Head of the Ministry of Education’s Educational Jewish People’s Program; Haifa University doctoral student Suraj Rajan Kadanthodu; Israeli writer and Indian Jewish activist Ilana Shazor; and Avner Isaac, Chairman of the Indian Jewish Heritage Center. An audience of over one hundred, a large crowd for such an event, attended.

The day ended with a Malida or thanksgiving ceremony, a tradition of India’s Bene Israel community featuring a special dish of sweetened rice garnished with coconut flakes, nuts, and spices and served on a large platter with fruits of the season.

“It was a touching and proud moment for all of us,” said Thangjom. “At long last the history of India’s Jewish communities is being given the academic attention it deserves. It’s been long overdue, but better later than never.”