Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 21: In yet another evidence of the BJP government in Manipur and the state police having miserably failed to protect the harassed tribal women or take action against the perpetrators of heinous crimes, it has now emerged that the National Commission for Women was informed about the crimes against women in the state more than a month ago but nothing moved.
While the viral video of women being paraded naked that emerged on Wednesday caused nation-wide outrage, the NCW was informed about this and other incidents of atrocities on tribals and their women through an appeal by two women activists and a civil society organisation called the North American Manipur Tribal Association (NAMTA) more than a month ago on June 12.
The appeal which was emailed to NCW Chairperson listed six incidents of violence and assault against women belonging to the Kuki tribe. The second one mentioned was that of the gang rape and assault on the women in B Phainom village of Kangpokpi District on May 4 which was captured in the video.
The other incidents listed in the appeal are alleged harassment and abuse of students and staff from Kuki-Zomi communities in Manipur University campus, Imphal on May 3, harassment of two young women at Nightingale Nurse Institute in Imphal on May 4, the alleged rape and murder of two young women in the Konung Mamang area of Imphal on May 5, the killing of a 45-year old woman in Pheitaiching village of Kangpokpi district and sexual assault of an 18 year old in Wangkhei on May 15. The activists had compiled the incidents based on their interviews with the victims of physical assaults and rapes. “The number of affected parties are maybe more than reported,” the appeal said.
The June 12 appeal underlined the serious gravity of “gender-based violence, appalling levels of women’s rights violations, and continued threats to the physical safety and psychological well-being of Kuki-Zomi women” and requested the commission to “take suo motu cognizance of the matter and if possible, constitute an Inquiry Committee.”
The NCW chief Rekha Sharma, who after the video became viral on Wednesday claimed that the commission had taken suo motu cognizance of the said incident, admitted that the letter from NAMTA did reach her in time and said she had written to the Manipur Chief Secretary on June 19 to take action. “Till now, we have written four times to the Manipur government on May 23, May 29, June 19 and on July 20,” Ms Sharma said. She said she had not received any response from the Manipur administration.
In the letter dated June 19, along with which the NCW chief said the appeal has been forwarded, Manipur Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi was asked to ensure mechanism for quick response to “incidents of violence and harassment of women” in the violence ridden State.
“Keeping in view the urgency and significance of the matter, I am forwarding herewith the representation requesting the State government for immediate support to the affected women and take appropriate action in this regard,” the letter said.
The letter on Thursday (July 20) to Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh, however, clearly mentions the incident captured in the video and asks for the immediate arrest of the accused persons as well as an Action Taken Report within four days.
When asked by media persons why the NCW had not sent any delegation to the State, Ms Sharma said the situation was not conducive for that. “Do you think a delegation can go there?” The NCW chief claimed that the commission was in constant touch with the officers in Manipur, but till the video surfaced and created national outrage, the government did not take a single step to arrest the situation. Even on Friday the chief minister N Biren Singh gave excuses of workload due to continuing violence to provide security to the tribal women.
The mother of the younger of the two women who were paraded naked by a mob of men said there was little or no possibility of the devastated family of ever returning to their village. The woman’s mother, who remains deeply traumatised and can’t speak beyond a few minutes, alleged the Manipur government has not done enough to stop the violence or protect people.
Her husband and son were killed by the mob, before her daughter was tripped, paraded and groped by the men on camera on May 4, a day after clashes broke out between the valley-majority Meiteis and the hill-majority Kuki tribe.
“I have lost my youngest son, who was my entire hope. I was expecting that once he completes Class 12 and with much difficulty, I sent him to school to get a proper education. Now his father is also no more. My elder son does not have a job. So, when I think about the future of our family, I feel there is no hope. Apart from saying that I feel hopeless and helpless, there is nothing on my mind,” the woman said. Referring to the complete breakdown of trust between communities after the large-scale violence that has claimed over 120 lives, the woman said the thought of returning to her village hasn’t even crossed her mind.
“There is no possibility of us going back to our village. That thought has not even crossed my mind… No, we cannot go back. I don’t want to go back. Our houses have been burned, our fields destroyed. What will I go back to? My village is burnt down. I don’t know what the future for me and my family is, but I cannot go back,” she said.
She faulted the Manipur government for not controlling the violence that spiralled out since it began on May 3. “I am very angry and agitated. They have brutally killed her father and her brother and even with her, they have done this humiliating act… I am so hurt. The government of Manipur is not doing anything. Mothers and fathers of India, we are at a loss, we are unable to think of what to do from now on as a community.”
More than 115 people have been killed and 40,000 displaced from their homes due to ethnic violence in the State that began on May 3. Tensions arose in the State after the majority Meitei community demanded Scheduled Tribe (ST) status and hill tribes opposed this demand.
