The 51-year-old award-winning activist said she could not hold back tears after watching a video clip that showed two women paraded naked and molested by a group of men in the northeastern state’s Kangpokpi district on May 4. Photo Credit: PTI
Civil rights activist Irom Sharmila on Sunday described the strip-parading incident of two tribal women as “inhuman” and “very disturbing” and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately intervene to address the situation in her home state.
He also demanded that Chief Minister N. Biren Singh should accept his failure and apologize to the people of Manipur.
The 51-year-old award-winning activist said she could not hold back tears after watching the video clip that showed two women being paraded naked and molested by a group of men in the northeastern state’s Kangpokpi district on May 4.
This video, which surfaced on July 19, was condemned across the country. Since then the police have arrested six people.
“It is an inhuman and very disturbing incident. I couldn’t hold back tears after seeing the video I have received. I am deeply saddened and shocked,” Sharmila told PTI in an exclusive interview from Bengaluru.
Sharmila, who hails from Manipur, was on a hunger strike for 16 years demanding repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). During that time he was forcefully fed food through a food tube.
He said, “It is clear that the state government in Manipur has been a complete failure. And when a state cannot control the situation, why is the prime minister silent? He should protect the people of Manipur. If he is concerned about the suffering of the people of Manipur, he should intervene… Like the people of Gujarat, Manipuris also need his leadership.”
The ‘Iron Lady’ of Manipur demanded that Chief Minister N Biren Singh accept his failure and apologize to the people.
“The chief minister should keep aside the differences and talk to all the 60 MLAs. He should talk to them one by one and consider their opinion and decide how to stop the feeling of hatred between the two communities (Meitei and Kuki). This is the need of the hour,” he said.
After the first arrests in the Strip Parade incident on July 20, the chief minister had said he would ensure strict action was taken against all perpetrators, including considering the possibility of the death penalty.
Sharmila also felt that the ban on the internet to prevent the spread of fake news and videos in the caste violence-hit state of Manipur has not helped the situation in Manipur.
He said, “I don’t think this internet ban has helped in controlling the violence in Manipur. On the contrary, if the internet was working, the women (strip parade victims) would have got justice and the culprits would have been behind bars.”
Prime Minister Modi, who has been accused by the opposition of being silent on the situation in Manipur for over two months, condemned the strip-robbing incident a day after the video surfaced.
Sharmila demanded that the convicts should be punished with rigorous imprisonment and life imprisonment without parole.
Over 160 people have lost their lives, and several have been injured, since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a ‘tribal solidarity march’ was held in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The Meitei people account for about 53 percent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while the tribals, including the Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 percent and live mostly in the hill districts.