ICC Note
Not only are Christians in danger from radical Hindu groups in India , but they are also being targeted by insurgent paramilitary groups seeking ransom money.
UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum (02/21/06) Indian insurgents are demanding $430,000 for an international editor of a Methodist devotional periodical who has been held for a month.
The Rev. Tongkhojang Lunkim, the editor of the Kuki edition of the Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide in India , was kidnapped four weeks ago by a group of rebels called the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA), based in the Manipur region, the United Methodist Church said Tuesday. The Upper Room is a publication of the United Methodist Church of the United States .
The KLA abducted Lunkim’s son in 2003 but released him without receiving any ransom.
Lunkim is a part of the Kuki Christian Church, a collective of hundreds of Christian churches of Northeast India, Myanmar and Bhutan .
Lunkim oversees a large amount of evangelical and benevolence ministries among the Kuki people. He also is the chief of his village, the chairman of the Kuki Movement for Human Rights and the secretary of the Kuki Christian Church, according to news reports. He has been described as being in his 70s or 80s in some reports, but his age couldn’t be verified by UMNS at deadline.
The KLA is one of several area insurgencies that are seeking to carve out a sovereign state known as Kukiland from territory in Burma and Manipur.
