Manoj David, a social media influencer, calls himself a "preacher" on his Instagram handle
An alleged hate speech video posted by a social media influencer 10 months ago wishing for natural disasters to strike ethnic violence-hit Manipur as "God's vengeance" has gone viral, following which police sources said they are looking into the matter and will take action.
Manoj David, a Telangana-based influencer whose Instagram handle says he's a preacher, had uploaded a video on YouTube on July 29, 2023, in which he said God will "pour his wrath upon Manipur" over the deaths of "godly children". Nearly three months earlier, ethnic clashes had broken out between the valley-dominant Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo tribes, who are dominant in the hill districts of southern Manipur and a few other areas.
The old video has now gone viral amid the floods in Manipur in the wake of Cyclone Remal.
The cyclone has left a trail of destruction in many states in the northeast region. Forty people have died and over two lakh have been affected in the last four days. Flash floods in Assam impacted thousands in nine districts. In Manipur, three people died amid the rescue operations. In Mizoram, 27 died while search operations are on to locate many missing after landslides on Tuesday.
Manoj David delivered the alleged hate speech on May 31, 2023. An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 had struck Manipur's Ukhrul district on July 21, 2023. He then posted his May 31 speech on YouTube on July 29, 2023 - eight days after the earthquake whose scale was categorised as minor - along with clippings of news reports of the earthquake in Ukhrul, a hill district that shares a border with Nagaland.
"This is a prophecy for Manipur because there were grave attacks upon godly children, and persecution has been taking place in Manipur. So God is not silent. God is going to pour his wrath upon Manipur because they have killed his people, they have touched his people," Manoj David said in the video.
"To those who destroyed godly children God is sending his vengeance through two angles. These two angels are bringing earthquakes and floods. 'They have touched my people. They have destroyed my people. They have killed my innocent people.' So God is going to send his vengeance on Manipur in two forms - one is earthquakes, and heavy floods..." he said.
Manipur Police sources said they are looking into the alleged hate speech, and will take action accordingly. The alleged hate speech video going viral amid the floods and destruction in the northeast due to the cyclone could lead to tensions on the ground and fuel enmity among communities, police sources said.
Manipur lies in an area where the India and Eurasia tectonic plates collide. The US Geological Survey says the two continental plates are moving towards each other by approximately 50 mm a year, which leads to frequent earthquakes. This makes the region seismically volatile.
Over 220 have died in the Manipur violence, and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced. Thousands are still living in relief camps.