Imphal, Jul 25 (PTI) Demanding the resignation of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal on Tuesday questioned why the CM could not meet the families of the women who were stripped and paraded, when she could do so.
Maliwal, who is visiting the northeastern state since Sunday, claimed that the families of the two women who were shown being paraded naked in a viral video told her that nobody from the government had met them.
She appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani to come to the state.
Shah visited Manipur for four days in the last week of May.
“Manipur is burning. If something is not done right now, it will be difficult to save Manipur… The Centre should take control,” she told reporters after calling on state Governor Anusuiya Uikey.
The central government should ask the chief minister to resign as he does not deserve to remain in that post, the DCW chairperson said.
She said, “I went to Churachandpur alone, without any security. I met the families of the two women who were stripped, paraded naked and sexually assaulted. If I can meet them, why can’t the chief minister? Why can’t he go to Churachandpur and other affected places in his bullet-proof car?” To a question if she will meet the chief minister, Maliwal said she has sought time to meet Biren Singh.
She said, “But the chief minister is refusing to meet his own people. Why should he meet me?” No compensation, counselling or legal help reached them, Maliwal claimed.
“Hundreds of people are missing, thousands of houses were torched and many people died. Now I want to know why the chief minister is sitting at home,” she said.
Maliwal said she went to relief camps in Imphal, Churachandpur and Moirang and found that the condition of those facilities is poor.
“If Manipur continues to be run like this, it will be shameful for the entire country,” she told reporters in front of Raj Bhavan.
Maliwal said Governor Anusuiya Uikey is a sensitive woman and she is trying her best to change the current situation.
After coming to Manipur on Sunday afternoon, Maliwal had said she came here not to indulge in politics and would go back if those who should be here visited the state.
A viral video from May 4 of two women being paraded naked by a mob in Manipur renewed the national attention on Manipur, where violence broke out nearly three months ago, killing over 160 people since then, and injuring hundreds.
The violence erupted on May 3 after 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 mainly in the hill districts. PTI COR NN
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