India’s ‘lost tribe’ hit hard by violence

Members of the local Bnei Menashe community offering prayers at the Beith Shalom Synagogue during a Sabbath. — AFP

A “LOST tribe” of Israel in northeast India has been swept up in months of deadly ethnic violence, with at least one death, synagogues torched and hundreds forced to flee, members say.

Villages have been “razed to the ground”, with two synagogues destroyed and one death confirmed among the 5,000-strong community in India since fighting in Manipur state erupted in May, said Lalam Hangshing, president of the Bnei Menashe Council.