Aizawl: In a strong rebuttal to allegations levelled by a leader of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Hmar Students’ Association (HSA) has said that no temple was destroyed in the Hmar-dominated Tipaimuk area in southern Manipur during the recent ethnic riot.
The student body also said that there is not a single temple in the area.
HSA, the lone student body and oldest organization of the Hmar tribe, said in a statement that VHP leader Milind Parande had claimed in an interview that three big temples were destroyed in Tipaimuk. The interview, which was aired and published in a section of the media recently, is baseless and a false allegation, the statement said.
The student body said that Tipaimuk is a village, as well as the name of an assembly constituency and a sub-division. It claimed that there are 25 villages within the Tipaimuk sub-division (now Parbung sub-division) predominantly inhabited by the tribals, who are 100% Christian by faith.
“There is no single temple either big or small in the entire Tipaimuk sub-division. We also want to clarify that there is only one single Hindu temple in the entire Churachandpur town, which is still standing safe and intact,” HSA said in its statement.
The student body further strongly blamed the alleged torching of houses, including churches, at New Checkon in Imphal East, on Tuesday.
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It urged the government to prevent any anti-social activity and control the irate much as such activity could only escalate the already volatile situation.
Hmar is one of the major ethnic Zo or Mizo tribes.
VHP secretary general Milind Parande had recently claimed that not only churches but also around 40 Hindu temples were also destroyed by Kuki militants.
He said that around 11 big temples, comprising 4 temples in Tengnoupal and Moreh, 3 in Tipaimuk and 4 in Imphal East, were destroyed in the recent violent clash.