393 Meitei temples and shrines, including 16 Hindu mandirs, desecrated or destroyed during Manipur conflict
The painstaking efforts of a social organization has brought to light that at least 393 worship places of the Meiteis have been destroyed in the ongoing Manipur ethnic conflict, which is fueled primarily by narco-terror and illegal immigration of Christian Kuki-Chin people from neighboring Myanamar where a civil war is raging
The Umanglai Kanba Apunba Lup (UKAL) organization based in Manipur conducted extensive research and investigation to identify the desecrated sacred sites, which include those dedicated to ancestral and local deities as well as Hindu mandirs.
Working Committee on Protection of Meitei Temples (under the UKAL) informed that 393 Meitei temples and shrines were destroyed and burnt by Kuki militants. WCPMT convenor Mutum Maniton denounced that Kuki militants not only destroyed the shrines & temples but also humiliated the Meitei community by first kicking and spitting on the sacred sites before burning them.
While stating that the committee has been collecting the data of the temples destroyed by Kuki militants, he urged people to give information if some destroyed temples have been missed out, by visiting UKAL headquarters located at Konung Mamang and submitting evidence in form of photos.
Maniton further demanded authorities to take action and restore these sacred sites.
The Sangai Express reports that these worship sites have been vandalised, desecrated, burnt, razed to the ground etc in the course of the bloody ethnic clash; the count is not final, and the figure of 393 is what has been unearthed till now. No places of worship of the Meiteis seem to have been targeted in Naga dominated areas.