New Delhi: Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of telling lies from the Red Fort on Independence Day regarding Manipur, former MP and politburo member of Communist Party of India (CPI-Marxist) Brinda Karat on Wednesday demanded the immediate resignation of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
“On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that normalcy is returning to violence in Manipur. This is totally false. He lied to the nation. He (Modi) is not willing to take accountability and the failure of the BJP government in Manipur,” Karat told ETV Bharat in an exclusive interview in New Delhi.
She said that the situation in Manipur is still volatile. “The narrative spun by the BJP that they (victims of Manipur violence) are all illegal immigrants has also fueled the division in Manipur. The callous inaction of the Biren Singh government and abdication of its constitutional duty has angered the people of Manipur,” said Karat.
Karat along with members of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) had been in Manipur from August 9 to 11 to take stock of the prevailing situation of the northeastern state. She vehemently criticized BJP for "narrow identity" politics and the "politics of hatred".
The delegation found that more than 55,000 people were living in 350 relief camps all over Manipur. “They are staying in these relief camps for over three months now with no solution in sight. People are living in dire conditions in these camps. Children are still out of school in the hill areas. There are no decent facilities in these camps. Women feel very embarrassed having to share their space with all in the relief camps including men. Food and nutrition are a casualty. People are eating only dal and rice for three months,” Karat said.
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The AIDWA team interacted with the victims of ethnic violence in Manipur. They visited Churachandpur which is now called ‘Lamka.’ There are around 250 relief camps sheltering more than 15,000 people. "It was heart-rending to meet the young girl and the older woman whose ordeal shocked the entire country. These women were handed over to the marauding mobs by the police. The desperation of the young girl’s teenage brother and father to save her could be felt when it was described to us,” the AIDWA team wrote in their ground report, a copy of which was available with ETV Bharat.
The brother was brutally beaten and his head smashed. The father too was killed in a brutal manner. “I can not express my grief in words. No amount of money can compensate for our loss. We want help to fight this government and want a separate administration for ourselves. I want to see the dead bodies of my son and husband. Please help me to see them,” the AIDWA team stated in their report quoting the woman victim of sexual violence.
The AIDWA team was referring to the ordeal of two women who were paraded naked and one of them was gang-raped on May 3. The video of the incident created a global controversy over the safety and security of women in violence-hit Manipur. The AIDWA team also referred to another gangrape incident which took place on May 15.
A mother of a girl who was abducted, when she went to the ATM on May 15, spoke of her pain for what happened to her child. “The father worked in the Municipal Council in Imphal and the mother cleaned toilets. They have two sons and two daughters. The girl, who was her third child among four children, studied till the eighth standard and dropped out of school due to ill health. Since both parents were working, she looked after the home. They left Imphal on May 3 while the girl stayed back with her friend. She went to the ATM on May 15 from where she was abducted. She was gang-raped and thrown from the hilltop. She is alive and trying to cope with her trauma,” the AIDWA team noted in their report.
There are several other instances which have been compiled in their report and the AIDWA team is now trying to meet President Droupadi Murmu. “If we are allowed, we will meet the President and submit to her the report we have compiled about the horrific situation seen by us in Manipur,” said Karat.
