Manipur violence : Video of brutality relating to women in Manipur goes viral

 

 

Manipur is in the grip of ethnic violence these days, but now tension has spread in the hilly areas of Manipur over a video in which two women are being paraded naked.  According to reports, the video is from May 4 and both the women are from the Kuki community, while the men who are parading the women naked are all from the Meitei community.  Tribal organization Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum has demanded action against the culprits.

 According to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, the incident took place on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, about 35 km from state capital Imphal.  At the same time, no one has been arrested by the police in this case.  It can be clearly seen in the video that the men are continuously molesting the helpless women who are crying and begging them to leave.

 Condemning this heinous act, an ITLF spokesperson demanded that the central and state governments, the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes take cognizance of the crime and bring the culprits to justice.  The Kuki community is also planning to raise the issue during the proposed protest march in Churchandpur on Thursday.

 Ethnic clashes have been raging in Manipur state since May 3 between the majority Meitei, concentrated in the Imphal Valley, and the Kuki people who occupy the hills.  So far more than 160 people have died in the violence.  The violence escalated after a 'tribal solidarity rally' was organized by the All Tribal Students' Organization Manipur against the alleged move to include Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribes.  The police is also probing the matter after the video surfaced on social media.

Banned terrorist groups in Manipur, which have been burning in the fire of ethnic conflict for the last one and a half months, may again raise their head as the warring communities are still with more than six lakh rounds of ammunition and about 3,000 weapons.  Officials and experts have given this warning.  The weapons missing from the police armory in May were .303 rifles, medium machine guns (MMG) and AK assault rifles, carbines, INSAS light machine guns (LMGs), INSAS rifles, M-16 and MP5 rifles, officials said.  Apart from these, around 6 lakh rounds of ammunition were found missing during attacks on police and other security officials since May 3.  So far more than 160 people have lost their lives in these attacks.

 Around 4,537 arms and 6.32 lakh ammunition are missing, mainly from Manipur Police Training Center (MTPC), 7th India Reserve Battalion and 8th Manipur Rifles at Pangei in Imphal East, officials said.  According to officials, 2,900 of the weapons stolen were of the lethal category, while others included teargas and mini flare guns.  Experts said, the ongoing conflict has led to the re-activation of banned terrorist organisations, which were virtually inactive, including the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Kanglei Yawol, Kangba Lup (KYKL) and the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak ​​(PREPAK).