By Manoj Kumar Ojha
GUWAHATI: The Assam Chay Janjati Mahila Samiti along with the support of 27 other women organizations late evening on Friday strongly condemned the attack on two women by a mob in Manipur.
With tears rolling on their face, heart-breaking slogans in mouth, expressing concern and pain on assault on women and candles in hands with prayers to remove the darkness of violence in Manipur , thousands of women and girls took to the National Highways in all 35 districts of the state.
The largest peaceful protest on violence in Manipur was taken out in the strongholds of tea belt in Tinsukia district of upper Assam on National Highway 37 near All Tea Tribes Students Association office at Hansara Chariali .
“We immediately demand justice for the victims. Why do not the governments in Manipur and Delhi taking immediate steps to stop violence in Manipur especially assault on women and children,” said Moni Tanti , a protester.
“In Assam among tea Tribes also there are people of different faiths- some hindu,some Christians and some others . Some belong to present Jharkhand, some Odisha and some from other places. But all live together in harmony. Manipur people can take example from it, ” she added .
The women wings requested the Manipur Government take up the case in a fast-track court to deliver justice instantly .
They denounced the brutal attack and called for all concerned authorities to take necessary action and punish all involved as per the law of the land.
Several Assam civil society organisations in Manipur, including the Senior citizens Associations have also strongly condemned the inhuman act committed against the two women by a mob on May 4.
The organisatons asked the Manipur government to take up the case in a fast-track court to deliver justice instantly.
“The government must initiate necessary steps for immediate booking of all the people involved in such dehumanizing crime,” Arjun Barua, a senior citizen, said .
Referring to the viral video clip, the they said the incident was extremely deplorable.
“The inhuman act meted out to the women who were stripped naked, groped and paraded in a broad daylight on the highway towards a paddy field is highly deplorable,” They protested .
The protesters said the beastly act of sexually assaulting right on the nose of the law enforcing agency and unleashing a reign of terror has shattered the basic principles of democracy.
“The prestige and dignity of our mother, daughter and sister wrecked beyond redemption. Horrifying act and humiliation has replaced the beauty of womanhood. We can never allow the perpetrators involved in such a heinous crime to go scot-free,” said the protesters .
However, this strong condemnation by a powerful women organisations indicates that the women wing of entire northeast region are deeply pained by the incident.
Meanwhile many women activists termed the incident as an ‘obnoxious act’ that has no place in the present society and called for all right-thinking citizens to condemn the horrendous episode that occurred in a broad daylight.
“It is very unfortunate that the state of Manipur is witnessing such a scandalous behaviour and the world will take a note of the brutal incident,” the women protestors told media.
The women body said the Associations denounces the barbaric act and urged the concerned authority to take necessary action and book all the perpetrators at the earliest. The women bodies said that befitting punishment should be awarded as per the law of the land.
Moran Jatiya Mahila Parishad also condemned the despicable and unpardonable act of violence committed against the two women which was in total obliteration to the age old tradition of paying highest respect to mothers and sisters.
Meanwhile, protest rallies were held in neighboring Namsai, Changlang , Tirap , Lohit , Anjaw and Dibang valley districts of Arunachal Pradesh also condemning the stripping naked of two women whose video has gone viral and demanding a separate administration for the Kuki areas.
The demand for some kind of separate administration by Kukis has however been opposed by many sections of Manipur’s polity.
An armed mob, nearly a thousand strong, had attacked a village in Kangpokpi district of Manipur and torched, looted houses, killed and raped wantonly before abducting two women whose forced naked parade caught on video outraged the entire nation.
The FIR filed in this case on June 21, a copy of which is with the correspondent, revealed the tale of mayhem which occurred before the abduction and shameful behaviour with tribal women, a video of which has now formed the basis of raids and arrests of people connected with the incident.
The FIR claimed that one person was killed by the mob as he tried to protect his sister from being raped on May 4 before the two were paraded naked and molested in front of others.
More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.
More or less the other states of the northeast are being affected also since violence continues nearly two months after ethnic clashes first broke out in May.