68 killed, 222 churches burnt as ethnic cleansing in India's Manipur state continues.

ISLAMABAD -- At least 68 tribal people had so far been killed and around 222 churches were burnt in India's Manipur state where the ethnic cleansing of the tribes was going on in different tribal villages for one month.

"To date, 68 tribal people had been confirmed dead and 50 or more are still unaccounted for. The number of churches burnt is 222 and the number of burnt churches administration buildings/quarters is 73," according to a statement issued by Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, a conglomerate of recognised tribes of Churachandpur District, Manipur.

The Forum said the Manipur State Government along with the Manipur State forces had been carrying out ethnic cleansing continuously since May3, 2023 against the tribal people in different tribal villages wherein tribal villages were burnt down to ashes and many innocent tribals murdered.

It said the number of villages burnt was 115 and that of the houses burnt was more than 4000. The number of tribal people injured was alarming, it added.

The poor tribal villagers defending their villages with just a handful of single barrels guns and a few licensed guns were collected from them by the army leaving them helpless at the hands of the "state-led machinery."

"We strongly condemn the Manipur State Government forces actions and we appeal to the Central Government and the central forces to deploy more forces in our villages to protect our innocent tribal villagers whose lives are in danger. We also demand the immediate imposition of President's Rule in Manipur and the sacking of the N Biren Singh-led Government," the Forum demanded.

According to the media, two synagogues were burned down, and one Torah scroll was torched.

At least 210 Bnei Menashe homes were also burnt to the ground. The Bnei Menashe is a 5,000-person-strong...