Guwahati, Sept 12: The Catholic Bishops of North East India have issued an urgent appeal over what they describe as the continuing bloodshed and devastation in Manipur, warning that the state’s cycle of violence is inflicting wounds that will be inherited by generations to come.
The appeal came out of the North East India Regional Bishops’ Council (NEIRBC), whose 15 dioceses met for their annual conference at the Archbishop’s House in Shillong from September 7–9.
In a press statement issued under the council’s president, Archbishop John Moolachira of Guwahati, the bishops did not mince words about the scale of the crisis: lives lost, families forced from their homes, and places of worship reduced to rubble.
The statement paints a grim picture of a region still reeling from ongoing unrest — communities uprooted, sacred spaces destroyed, and a population caught between competing grievances that have spilled into open violence.
The bishops stressed that no cause, however justified, can excuse arson, bloodshed, or the hate-filled rhetoric that has spread rapidly through social media, further inflaming tensions on the ground.
“Violence Has No Winner”
Central to the bishops’ message was a stark warning: violence begets only more violence, and in the end, it produces no victors — only deeper generational trauma. They called on all parties, including ordinary citizens, to abandon inflammatory speech, rumor-mongering, and retaliatory attacks immediately.
A Call to Governments and Leaders
The council placed direct responsibility on political leadership at both the state and national level, urging authorities to pursue genuine dialogue, justice, and cooperative action rather than allow the crisis to fester.
They pressed for guarantees protecting every citizen regardless of background, unbiased delivery of humanitarian aid to all affected communities, and a peace process broad enough to include and respect every group’s dignity and rights.
Drawing on Christian teaching, the bishops framed forgiveness and reconciliation as the only sustainable route forward, describing true peace not simply as the absence of fighting but as the presence of justice and truth.
They have instructed Church institutions across the region to assist all victims of the violence without discrimination, and issued a broader call for prayer and solidarity from people of goodwill everywhere.
The statement closes with a direct plea: that Manipur’s people and leaders choose what the bishops call the harder but righteous path — rejecting violence in favor of dialogue and a shared journey toward lasting peace.
