Dr. Duke Jeyaraj
The Viral Video from Manipur featuring two Kuki-Zo women being paraded naked almost brought India and the world to a standstill during July 2023. The BBC describes the video this way: A video of the incident, which took place on 4 May, 2023, went viral on 19 July, 2023 and caused global outrage… According to the complaint, the (women) survivors, 21 and 42 years old, were travelling in a group of five which included an older woman and two men – the father and the brother of the young woman… The attack on the women took place in the early days of the conflict when they were trying to escape after their village was attacked and burnt down by “a mob of about 800 to 1,000 men, many of them armed”. In their complaint, they said they were rescued by the police but were “snatched by the violent mob” and forced to strip. The complaint said that the men were killed and the 21-year-old “was brutally gang-raped in broad daylight”. The third woman, though not seen in the video, had also been forced to strip, it added. The disturbing footage, showing the women weeping, wincing in pain and begging their attackers to show some mercy, was widely shared on social media on 19 July 2023. Barkha Dutt, a respected senior journalist, made these comments about this video, after having it seen herself. She made the following comments via her YouTube channel: What those three women have gone through is unspeakable horror. The FIR (filed by the village chief) says one of the women who was forced to strip was 21-years old. She was brutally gang-raped in front of the witnesses (allegedly). Further in blood-curdling detail the young brother of the 21-year old woman who was being raped, tried to defend his sister’s modesty. and life, but he was murdered by the members of the mob on the spot. The brother who was killed as he tried to defend his 21-year-old sister was 19 years old. It is difficult to report some storied and this is one of them. An observer who hailed from Manipur whom Barkha calls, Glady, says this (in the same video): “What more can I say, Barkha? If I have to put myself in their place, I will put death over surviving. In the video that is circulated everything is exposed. Not even a part of their body is blurred. It is shameful to show this even to male lawyer. We have to find a female lawyers to do it.” In response to this Barkha Dutt says this: “I have seen a lot in life as a journalist. But this breaks my heart. As a woman it does! The husband of the one of the women said that the mob also set fire on the village church (in another another video as he spoke to Barkha Dutt). The Quint Youtube channel put out a video on this viral video. This video specifically mentions that the men touched the private parts of the women publicly even as they dragged them towards a paddy field where one of them was allegedly raped.
Bharkha Dutt and her guest fought back the tears as they talked about the Manipur Naked Parade video
This viral video can be the starting point of a Gospel Sharing session – An EVANGELIZATION Session. The murdered 19-year-old brother associated with the Manipur reminds me of the Ultimate Elder Brother, even Jesus (Heb. 2:11) who died on the Cross for each one of our sins (Gal. 2:20). Can this video be a bridge for us to share the Gospel? It sure can be!
The Manipur horror video brings to our notice a brother who died trying to defend the dignity of his sister and ultimately points to God-in-flesh Jesus who died for all of us on the Cross so that he can offer forgiveness of sins!
This video can also be the start of a SEXUAL ETHICS Discussion with modern youth who grapple with issues such as pornography, sexual touching, etc. The repeated references to nakedness in Leviticus 18 as one read in the essentially literal English versions of the Bible like the NKJV and ESV drives home this message: a woman nakedness belongs to the eyes of her husband alone; the nakedness of a husband belongs to the eyes of the wife alone. We may never strip a woman naked and parade her naked like the villains of this viral video did. But if we are secretly watching porn, that is a sin we must repent of. In the New Testament, we see a demonized man naked (Luke 8:27). When we expose ourselves to porn-consumption or porn-production – the world of nakedness exposure outside the boundaries of marriage – we, I believe, welcome the work of the Devil in our lives. That’s dangerous! We need deliverance which Jesus alone can give! The groping – sexual touching – done on the women in the Manipur viral video brings to my mind the sins of Oholah and Oholibah in Ezekiel 23. They gave consent to men who were not their husbands to fondle their breasts (v. 3, 23) and God called that prostitution (read the full chapter). This chapter is talking about two places. It is not talking about two literal women. However, this relevant-for-this-generation sexual ethical message remains: it displeases God when we grope women, fondle women who are not your spouses; it is wrong to do this even with their consent. The story found in Genesis 26 tells us that even Pagan king instinctively knew it was wrong to fondle any woman. That pagan king knew from his conscience that one cannot call someone “sister” and fondle that same person! Fondling, sexual touch, outercourse without resultant intercourse, is also reserved for those married.
The Bible teaches in Ezekiel 23 and Genesis 26 that groping a woman who is not your wife, even with her consent, displeases God. It is a sin! The Bible teaches us from Leviticus 18 and Luke 8:27 that watching nudity of a person who is not your wife/husband deliberately is against God’s written command and opens the door for the devil in our lives.
At least one of the women in the Manipur Viral Video was allegedly raped. This reminds me of the fact that the Lord we worship never forces anyone to do anything. The Gospel of John reports in chapter 6: After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:66,67). A man of God put it brilliantly when he said that while we can sure choose what we want to do, we cannot, however, choose the consequences of those choices. Rejecting Christ, who does not ever force himself on us, using our freewill puts us on a sure-fire path to eternal hell. God will not force any of us to quit any of our pet sins! If we are stubborn in the sins of idolatry, lesbianism and homosexuality, the Bible says God can choose to ‘give us up’ rather than force us or twist our arm to follow his lead (Romans 1:24,26,28). And when God gives us up, only eternal damnation awaits us! Yes, Jesus gives us the freedom to choose! But there is no choice for us to choose from when it comes to the consequences of our choices! For example, if we reject Jesus using our free will to choose, we will land in hell. We have not choice when it comes to consequences of our choices! So, now, even now, when we have the time, let us choose to follow Christ, turning from sin! Yes, the Manipur Viral Video discussion can be a launchpad for us to call people for a DECISION, a CHOICE when it comes to eternity matters. The Manipur Viral Video also brings to the fore the sad and focussed destruction of a physical building of the local church by anti-Christian forces.
Jesus gives us choice! But there is no choice for us to choose from the consequences of our choices! For example, if we reject Jesus using our free will to choose, we will surely land in hell. We have no choice when it comes to consequences of our choices!
Some 250 churches were supposedly destroyed in the first 36 hours of violence, according to reports from the ground. Having a physical building to gather for prayer, study of the Bible, is surely CONVENIENT. But this is not at all, COMPULSORY! The Apostles were more concerned about the WIDOWS in the Church (Acts 6:1-4) rather than about the WINDOWS in the Church! What the Apostles called “building” was not a building made of brick and mortar but a building which meant people who needed to be built spiritually with prayer and Word-feeding (I Cor. 3:9). The early church largely met at homes (Acts 2:46), in any readily available space (see Acts 19:9 – lecture halls; see Acts 21:5 – beach). A careful reading of the New Testament tells us this (Col. 4:15; Rom. 16:5). Raising up a church building is definitely not a sin. But waiting to meet as a church, only if there is an “own building” is built and is made available is a sin! Even if all our church buildings are destroyed by anti-Christian forces (God forbid) we must continue to meet in available homes, available spaces and continue to fulfil the plan of God as the body of Christ without relenting!
Read above to know a little about what the New Testament says about the modern church building fund obsession!
(Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission. His latest adventure for God is running a Kahoot Bible Quiz which is nationally attended with players playing from their home and learning God’s Word between questions. Learn more by simply YouTubing ‘Duke Jeyaraj Kahoot’.
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