Hangzo, like most of her household in India, is a member of the Kuki, which is usually known as Kuki-Zomi or Kuki-Zo.

After the mob burned the church, Hangzo’s household hid in a neighborhood resort. They watched the rising mob outdoors on the safety digital camera earlier than escaping to a military camp. Hangzo and others satisfied them to go away the area by airplane.

“They had to run for their lives with just the clothes on their back,” stated Hangzo, who works as an engineer within the tech business.

With luck and assist from folks Hangzo describes as “angels,” the household made it safely out of the area. Images from the native information channel confirmed their properties looted and burned. Eleven members at the moment are crowded in a three-bedroom condo in New Delhi, India’s capital. Despite leaving all their possessions behind, Hangzo stated they really feel lucky to have made it out alive.

Since the violence broke out in Manipur, Hangzo has devoted her time to informing folks in regards to the battle.

She is without doubt one of the founding members of the North American Manipur Tribal Association, a nationwide group fashioned to advertise consciousness of the hill tribes of Manipur within the U.S.

The group wrote letters to President Joe Biden, asking him to boost the difficulty when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the U.S. on the finish of June. NAMTA additionally coordinated efforts with the Indian American Muslim Council, Hindus for Human Rights, in addition to Indian Christian organizations.

“There’s not much we can do on our own, but I think the atrocities and the stories from Manipur have shaken people and shaken the conscience of other people,” Hangzo stated.

Indian communities within the Bay Area held rallies in Oakland, Palo Alto and Fremont after a video exhibiting two Kuki girls being assaulted in public went viral in India. Members of the Muslim, Sikh and Dalit communities within the Bay Area additionally mixed efforts to strain congressional leaders to take motion.

Pieter Friedrich and Shan Sankaran protested the therapy of the Kuki with a starvation strike. Friedrich, a human rights advocate, ended his quick after 9 days on the request of NAMTA and the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations.

On Thursday, Sankaran, a Sunnyvale resident, ended his starvation strike after 10 days. Sankaran stated if the central authorities wished the disaster underneath management, they might’ve taken motion earlier.

“This is not the first incident under this administration,” stated Sankaran, recalling how Modi was denied a visa to the U.S. for a number of years for “severe violations of religious freedom.”