LONDON: There is a clear religious part to the strife in Manipur, British foreign secretary and former UK prime minister David Cameron has told the House of Lords.
“It is right to say that we should not downplay the religious aspects of some of this strife. Yes, sometimes it is communal, tribal or ethnic, but in many cases there is a clear religious part of it,” Cameron said in response to a question from the Lord Bishop of Winchester on Tuesday, who asked him what assessment he has made of the current state of freedom of religion or belief in India in the light of “disturbing reports of violations of freedom of religion or belief in Manipur over the past year”.
Cameron replied that he had studied a very good report on the Manipur strife written by David Campanale.
Campanale’s report, which TOI has seen, written in June 2023, states: “It is to be noted that if the conflict is explained by citing ethnic or economic disputes between valley people and tribals from the hills, account still needs to be given as to why churches among both … were destroyed. There is a clear religious dimension.”
“It is true that India has what is called a secular Constitution,” Lord Singh of Wimbledon said. “But since then, we have had the riots in Ayodhya where tens of thousands of Muslims were killed; then we had the home minister describing the Muslims as termites; then a Hindu temple was built on a razed mosque. Christians have been persecuted again and again, and Sikhs are told that if they behave like Hindus, they are fine; otherwise, they are termed separatists.” He then asked for freedom of belief to be at the forefront of the Commonwealth charter.
Cameron replied: “The points he makes about the importance of religious tolerance and freedom of religious belief in India are important points. There have been occasions where it has been something we have raised with the Indian government. That should continue.”
Lord Purvis of Tweed questioned what kind of market access would be given to India in the UK-India trade deal for media, data and telecoms. “The freedoms that we should enjoy in this country when it comes to the BBC and open media to report human rights concerns should exist in India also. We should not give preferential market access here when we are not offered it there,” he said.
“It is right to say that we should not downplay the religious aspects of some of this strife. Yes, sometimes it is communal, tribal or ethnic, but in many cases there is a clear religious part of it,” Cameron said in response to a question from the Lord Bishop of Winchester on Tuesday, who asked him what assessment he has made of the current state of freedom of religion or belief in India in the light of “disturbing reports of violations of freedom of religion or belief in Manipur over the past year”.
Cameron replied that he had studied a very good report on the Manipur strife written by David Campanale.
Campanale’s report, which TOI has seen, written in June 2023, states: “It is to be noted that if the conflict is explained by citing ethnic or economic disputes between valley people and tribals from the hills, account still needs to be given as to why churches among both … were destroyed. There is a clear religious dimension.”
“It is true that India has what is called a secular Constitution,” Lord Singh of Wimbledon said. “But since then, we have had the riots in Ayodhya where tens of thousands of Muslims were killed; then we had the home minister describing the Muslims as termites; then a Hindu temple was built on a razed mosque. Christians have been persecuted again and again, and Sikhs are told that if they behave like Hindus, they are fine; otherwise, they are termed separatists.” He then asked for freedom of belief to be at the forefront of the Commonwealth charter.
Cameron replied: “The points he makes about the importance of religious tolerance and freedom of religious belief in India are important points. There have been occasions where it has been something we have raised with the Indian government. That should continue.”
Lord Purvis of Tweed questioned what kind of market access would be given to India in the UK-India trade deal for media, data and telecoms. “The freedoms that we should enjoy in this country when it comes to the BBC and open media to report human rights concerns should exist in India also. We should not give preferential market access here when we are not offered it there,” he said.
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