Manipur incident shameful: J&K political parties

Srinagar: The parading naked of two women in Manipur is shameful, painful and horrific, political parties in Jammu and Kashmir said on Thursday, asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on the incident were too little, too late.
Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said she was numbed by the Manipur incident, and charged that “rabid rabble rousing elements” have been “unleashed” for electoral gains by people at the top who do not now know how to reign them in.
“Numbed by the horrific pictures of two women being paraded naked & assaulted by a mob in Manipur. Those at the top cannot feign ignorance. Fact of the matter is that they have unleashed rabid rabble rousing elements for their own electoral gains & dont know how to rein them in anymore,” the PDP president alleged in a tweet.
Another former chief minister and chairman of Democratic Progressive Azad Party, Ghulam Nabi Azad, called for exemplary punishment to the perpetrators.
“Absolutely horrified by the sexual assault on two women in Manipur. These acts are a blatant violation of humanity and contradict India’s core values of respect, dignity, and compassion for all. This inhumane act deeply disturbs me, and I strongly urge for exemplary punishment to be given to the perpetrators!” Azad wrote on Twitter.
National Conference chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said the video of the incident that surfaced online brought shame to humanity.
“The video that went viral from Manipur is not only shameful but also painful. It brings great shame to humanity,” Sadiq said.
He said it was “hurting” that the BJP and the Manipur government took more than two months to even react to the horrific incident.
“For 24 hours, the chief minister did not react and he was so naive to say that he did not know about it till today morning,” he said.
Asked about the prime minister’s remarks on Manipur ahead of the Parliament’s Monsoon session, the NC spokesperson said the issue should not be politicised.
“It should not be about the governments, it should be about humanity. I think this country should believe in the rule of law and I think the government of India should have reacted early. Manipur (issue) has been going on for a long time, it’s time for the violence there to end and genuine concerns of the people be addressed,” Sadiq said.
PDP spokesperson Najmus Saqib said the PM’s remarks were too little, too late as the government did not utter a word for the last two months.
“It is too little, too late. For the last two months, they have not uttered a word…There was no action, no one has been held responsible,” he said.
Saqib said Modi did not speak about the issue for the last two months.
“He did not even utter one word about Manipur and that vividly tells us about the priorities of the PM. They were so much focused on elections like in Karnataka, they didn’t even take a single meeting about Manipur, so these are the double standards.”
Saqib said the government has been claiming day in and day out that there are no incidents of violence or communal violence across India, and they boast of a safe law and order situation, but there has been a breakdown of law and order in Manipur.
“Horrendous and horrific images are coming out of Manipur. If this does not move the government, I don’t know what will? Especially, on top of that, when you come to know that the government has been sitting on this video for the last two months and no action has been taken against the perpetrators,” he said.
The PDP spokesperson said if this kind of “de-stabilisation and breakdown of law and order” would have happened in other opposition-led states, “I think they would have imposed presidential rule long back”.
“If the same thing would have happened in Kashmir, they would have imposed president’s rule, governor rule, dispatched the government, and dissolved the assembly. But, nothing of that sort will happen because they are ruling Manipur and it is under their watch that the Manipur state of India is burning.
“Will they downgrade it to UT, will they abrogate Article 371 of Manipur? The whole of India is looking at the government to see their reaction,” he said.
“There is a complete breakdown of law and order, there is complete anarchy. The whole India is asking one simple question, will there be accountability for what is happening in Manipur? Who will resign? Who will take responsibility for what is happening?” Saqib asked. (With inputs from PTI)