The Toxic Campaign Against Northeastern Christians Must Be Confronted Head-On

India cannot afford to let venomous, recycled narratives poison its social fabric any longer. After failing to sustain her divisive storyline against the Kuki-Zo Christian community in Manipur, self-styled anthropologist and self-proclaimed nationalist Rami Niranjan Desai has now escalated her attacks, shifting the target to Christians across India’s Northeastern states. 

Her latest obsession: peddling the dangerous fiction of an impending “Christian state” carved out of the region, allegedly with foreign backing and missionary complicity.

This is not scholarly analysis. It is deliberate, inflammatory propaganda designed to radicalize public perception, security forces, and sections of the Indian establishment against an entire religious minority. Desai’s talking points—linking Christianity to separatism, insurgency, and trans-border conspiracies - are neither new nor subtle. They are a direct echo of the exact playbook used by former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh to dehumanize and ethnically target the Kuki-Zo people: branding them as “illegal immigrants,” “narco-terrorists,” “forest encroachers,” and “refugees.” That rhetoric did not remain abstract—it provided the ideological cover for large-scale violence, destruction of villages, displacement of tens of thousands, and what many credible observers have described as ethnic cleansing.

This propaganda operates within a broader, documented pattern of persecution that has moved from the Northeast into mainland India. Recent incidents show the normalization of anti-Christian hostility, often with state complicity. During Christmas 2025, Bajrang Dal members in Assam burned decorations at a Christian school, while in Madhya Pradesh, police initially denied permission for Carol singing until the High Court intervened. More chillingly, a BJP city corporator in another state was filmed physically assaulting a visually impaired Christian woman at a Christmas event as police stood by. This pattern of holiday-season intimidation is a deliberate tactic to erase cultural presence.

The institutional machinery of the state is increasingly weaponized. Laws against forced conversion are routinely misused; in Uttar Pradesh, a pastor and 35 congregants were arrested after extremists locked themselves inside their church and falsely reported forced conversions. The Supreme Court later vindicated them, calling it “harassment of innocent persons.” This systematic harassment provides the operational backbone for the toxic narratives figures like Desai espouse.

The pattern is unmistakable, and the intent is clear: project Christians of the Northeast—especially the tribal communities of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and beyond—as existential threats to the nation. By amplifying fears of a Christian homeland, these voices seek to transform legitimate ethnic, administrative, and political grievances into a religious security crisis, thereby justifying aggressive state action, militarization, and further marginalization.

To understand the profound dishonesty of this “Christian separatism” narrative, one must look to the academic concept of “Zomia.” As defined by scholar James C. Scott, Zomia refers to the vast, mountainous region across Southeast Asia and parts of Northeast India that historically resisted incorporation by valley-based states. The separatist impulses in the region stem not from religion but from a deep-seated geographic and tribal identity that clashes with the modern nation-state’s demands for assimilation. This is why Hindu-majority Assam has had separatist movements, why Buddhist Shan and Arakan groups seek independence from Buddhist Burma, and why Sunni Pashtuns resist the Sunni government in Pakistan. To label the Naga or Kuki-Zo quest for identity as solely a “Christian conspiracy” is to ignore centuries of highland history and geopolitics. It is a lazy, dangerous fiction.

This must stop—now.

India’s Northeastern Christians are not enemies of the state. They are Indian citizens who have served in the armed forces in disproportionate numbers, contributed to the country’s diversity, and maintained their faith while remaining fiercely patriotic. To paint them collectively as agents of foreign powers or secessionists is not only factually baseless—it is malicious, incendiary, and deeply dangerous.

The Government of India, the security establishment, and responsible sections of civil society must decisively reject this toxic narrative before it takes deeper root. The Indian Army and central agencies cannot allow themselves to be swayed by fear-mongering that conflates ethnic aspirations with religious conspiracy. History has shown, time and again, how such rhetoric precedes violence against minorities.

The Constitution is unambiguous: Article 25 guarantees freedom of religion; Article 14 ensures equality before the law; Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion. Special constitutional protections for tribal areas exist for a reason. Any attempt to undermine these safeguards under the guise of “national security” is an assault on the very idea of India.

The Christian communities of the Northeast—particularly those still reeling from the Manipur conflict - and must speak with one voice and zero compromise. Church bodies, tribal councils, civil society organizations, and elected representatives should:

Publicly and consistently expose and refute these falsehoods with facts, including the historical “Zomia” context that explains regional aspirations.
Demand accountability from media platforms and commentators who amplify hate-driven narratives.
Engage the central government firmly to ensure that administrative and security policies are guided by justice, not prejudice, leveraging legal precedents like the Supreme Court’s intervention in the Uttar Pradesh case.

Silence in the face of this campaign is complicity. The same playbook that devastated the Kuki-Zo must not be allowed to claim new victims. India is a secular, pluralistic democracy and not a majoritarian state that can be swayed by fear-mongers masquerading as patriots.

The time for polite rebuttal is over. Northeastern Christians, and all who value constitutional India, must confront this poison head-on, name it for what it is, and shut it down before more lives, more trust, and more of the nation’s soul are destroyed.