The most searing and enduring image of the nearly three-month-long ethnic violence in Manipur will be of two women of the Kuki community being paraded naked on the streets and the sexual assault on them by a mob.
Every element of the continuing horror in Manipur was there in the shocking image that went viral in the country. It showed all this: racial violence, humiliation of women, the impunity of ravaging mobs, the indifference and even complicity of the police and the administration, the failure of the Indian State to intervene in the situation and, above all, the failure of humanity. The image will replace the burning cars and houses, the march of armed protesters and militias and other acts of violence and intimidation which have been coming out of the state every day. It has shocked the nation and is, without a word, the most severe indictment of the state and central governments which have failed the people of the state and the country.
In any civilised society where there is rule of law, swift action would have been taken against the perpetrators of the heinous crime. An FIR was registered in May which had a description of the incident and a video of it. But no investigation and arrests were made till the video became viral this week. Chief Minister N Biren Singh has demanded capital punishment for the culprits, but he also said there were many such incidents in the state. He should be held accountable for this crime and the many others he mentioned, and for the whole situation in the state in the last three months. There is complete breakdown of law and order and the government has been lax in dealing with it and is even seen to be complicit in it. The situation is still bad and has raised serious political, social and human rights issues that are important for the state and the country. Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud expressed “deep concern” over the incident and said that the court will take action if “nothing is happening on the ground.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his long and inscrutable silence on Manipur, perhaps taking a cue from the CJI’s words or the public outrage over the incident. He said the entire country has been ashamed by it and promised that no guilty person will be spared. Why did it take such a horror for him to finally talk about the situation in the state? Quite ungraciously and in whataboutery indicating poor political intent, the Prime Minister compared Manipur with Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. It is unfortunate that he failed to rise above his usual politics even in such a situation.