Mizoram BJP VP quit accusing party leaders for failing to protect Christians

way2barak, July 14 : Mizoram’s BJP state Vice-President R.Vanramchhuanga resigned from his post in protest against “demolition of Christian Churches in Manipur was supported by the state and Central authorities”.

Vanramchhuanga submitted his resignation letter to Mizoram state BJP President Vanlalhmuaka on Thursday and accused Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for their indifferent attitude towards the Christian community in the violence hit Manipur.

The BJP leader in his resignation letter said : “Due to the recent outbreak of ethnic conflict in Manipur state, 357 Christian Churches, Pastor Quarters and office buildings belonging to different churches were so far burnt into ashes by Meitel militants.

However, the incident was not blamed by Manipur state Chief Minister Shri N. Biren Singh. Shri Amit Shahji, Union Home Minister, visited Imphal, but neither had he blamed the burning of church buildings.”

“Even the Central government has not expressed any word to condemn the burning of Christian churches. Therefore, I do believe that massive demolition of Christian Churches in Manipur was supported by the state and Central authorities,” Vanramchhuanga said.

“To protest against this act of criminal injustice to the Christians and the Christian religion, I do hereby submit my resignation as the state Vice President, BJP Mizoram Pradesh with immediate effect.”

While talking over phone on Friday, he said that some Congress and Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) leaders met him on Thursday and approached him to join their parties but he told them, he has not yet decided about his future course of action.

He said that he cannot continue to neither hold an important post in the BJP nor continue to remain as even a primary member of such a party which endorses attacks against Christians and Christian religion by burning a large number of church buildings.

The elections to the 40-member Mizoram assembly would be held this year end.

BJP has a lone member in the house.

On the BJP’s prospects in the upcoming assembly polls in Mizoram, Vanramchhuanga said that the ethnic conflict in Manipur and the BJP’s failure to deal with the crisis would impact in the prospects of the BJP the state elections.

In the recent local body and tribal autonomous council elections, the BJP have done well but the Manipur development shattered all the electoral prospects in Mizoram, he said.

Vanramchhuanga is the first BJP leader quit the party in the northeastern region to protest against the Manipur violence, which broke out after a tribal organisation held a rally on May 3 opposing the recognition of the Meitei community as Scheduled Tribe, so far has claimed over 150 lives and injured more than 600 people.

Hundreds of men and women from the Chin, Kuki, Mizo, and Zomi communities on Wednesday held a protest rally in Mizoram capital Aizawl against the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur and also burnt the posters of Manipur Chief Minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The ZO Reunification Organisation (ZORO) organised the rally demanding immediate stop of the ethnic violence in Manipur and creation of a separate state for the tribals in the state.

Addressing the protestors, ZORO President R. Sangkawia had condemned the attacks on Zo ethnic people in Manipur and the silence of Prime Minister Modi even after more than two months of violence.

According to the 2011 Census, Christians constitute 41.29 per cent of around three million population of Manipur and make up 87 per cent of the 1.2 million population in Mizoram.