"The incident that took place in Manipur is shameful for any civilized society. " PM Modi is talking about Manipur's horrifying video that has gone viral across the country. "The Chief Minister of Manipur claimed that things will be under control soon.
" "But what happened? " "A video has emerged that has raised a question in front of everyone. " "The government will have to answer this question.
" In the video, two women's clothes stripped naked, publicly paraded, molested, and ga*****ed. You may have heard about the video, but you may not know that the incident was caused by fake news. "The police say that this shameful incident happened because of the spread of fake news.
" The Print reported that all this happened because of fake news. The men said that this was revenge for the Churachandpur case. This is what a victim said, who spoke to The Print.
A few weeks ago, a fake photo went viral in Manipur. The photo shows how a Meitei woman was ga****ed and then killed by Kukki militants. Boom, a fact-checking website found that this photo is not from Manipur, but an old photo of an honour-killing incident in Delhi.
But by the time it was announced that the photo was fake, the fight had already begun between Kukis and Meiteis In one case, a group of 15-year-old men, who were intoxicated, pulled a 40-year-old Kuki woman into the fields and ra**d her. During the incident, the men were shouting, "we will do to you what your men did to our women. " For those men, the r**e was revenge.
And for that revenge, they r***d two women. And apart from that, in the state of Manipur, many people were killed, many houses were burnt, and many Manipuris lost their homes. When Manipur's video went viral, many people started criticizing it.
Not just on social media, but in the Parliament as well. Our Prime Minister also gave a public statement. Now that PM Modi has given a public statement against it, many people will be happy, right?
No. People argued that Manipur had been burning for 80 days. Prime Minister Modi gave his first statement after this video went viral.
The violence started in Manipur on 3rd May. Even after 70 days, the violence didn't stop on 19th July 2023. And during this time, the Prime Minister did a lot for our country.
But he didn't make a statement about Manipur. The same PM who tweeted about Shabana Azmi's injury and about Manipuri athletes winning a medal for the country. But we can't blame only the PM for this.
This viral video isn't from last week or last month. This video is from 77 days ago. On 18th May, the victim's husband registered an FIR.
But the Manipur government and police took action when the video went viral. In this video, I'll tell you who was responsible for Manipur's violence. Was it the central government, state government, police, army, media or the courts?
The violence started in Manipur on May 3rd between the majority Meiteis and the minority Kukis. To understand Manipur's history and who are the Meiteis and Kukis, watch the video we released 2 months ago where we discussed Manipur's entire history in detail. In this video, I'll not talk about Manipur's history but I'll talk about who's responsible for the violence in Manipur.
This started when the High Court of Manipur recommended that Meiteis should be included in the Scheduled Tribe List. Manipur High Court Justice told the state government that they should do something about it within four weeks. The violence started and within two days, around 60 people were killed.
On 5th May, the internet was suspended for 5 days and Section 144 was imposed. In mid-May, when Manipur was on fire, the Supreme Court criticized the Manipur High Court's order. It said, what was the need for such an order?
The Chief Justice of India even said, we need to intervene and cancel the Manipur High Court's order. He said, the High Court's order is against the Supreme Court's previous orders. But the Manipuris weren't listening to the Supreme Court's English statement.
The damage had been done, and the violence continued. Manipuris had been dealing with this violence for a long time. But the whole country understood this on July 19, when this video went viral.
"A shameful video from Manipur has gone viral. " Now you'll ask, what was the state government doing all this time? This is the Chief Minister of Manipur, who was talking about that viral video.
"So after watching that video, I felt so bad, so bad, this is not even humanity. " 3 days ago, the people of South Bombay and South Delhi didn't know what was going on in Manipur. But Manipur's Chief Minister lives a few kilometres away.
So many people have tried to pressure the Chief Minister to resign. And in fact, he did resign. On the afternoon of June 29, Chief Minister Biren Singh was going to meet the Governor of Manipur.
Because he was taking responsibility for the violence in Manipur and was giving his resignation to the Governor. The distance between the Chief Minister and the Governor's house is very short, around 200 meters. Biren Singh left his house with a convoy of 20 MLAs and several ministers.
But there's no shortage of drama in Indian politics. As soon as he moved forward, many women surrounded him and blocked him from going to the Governor's house. The women said, you can't resign.
"We got to know that Biren Singh, the Honourable CM, is going to resign and we don't want that. " "We want him as a CM. " Some women tore up the resignation paper.
After which Biren Singh returned to his home and said that he was not resigning. Whether it was a drama or not, I'll leave that to you. But only a few of us will be able to debate that if people are killed under the leadership of a person, they should be held responsible for that violence.
Many people said that Chief Minister Biren Singh is biased because he's a Meitei and that's why he hasn't stopped the violence. According to local reports, no one can challenge Biren Singh in Manipur. That's why he didn't resign.
Because no challenger is pressurizing him. Only the local media and citizens are pressurizing him. When the violence started on 3rd May, Kukis said that the Chief Minister was taking decisions in favour of a single community.
The problem is that the majority of the population in Manipur is Meitei. Even in the Legislative Assembly, they hold 40 out of 60 seats. This means that the Meiteis hold significant political power.
We talked about this in detail in the previous video. Biren Singh's bias has been discussed for a long time. This especially increased when he was going against the farmers and when he started a war on drugs.
Biren Singh said that many farmers in the hilly areas of Manipur were making drugs. These are the areas where Kukis live. Due to this anti-drug campaign, many Kuki villagers who live in the Churachandpur district were allegedly thrown out of their homes without any notice.
According to local reports, the government didn't have any evidence to prove that these farmers were growing drugs. Due to this, many Kuki MLAs of the BJP have demanded that CM Biren Singh be removed from his post. Mr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, who is currently a Union Minister of State for External Affairs, has also openly criticized the Manipur government.
Because his home was burnt down in Imphal. 7 MLAs of the BJP and 3 other Kuki MLAs demanded that a new administration to be set up in Manipur. But the BJP leadership rejected this demand.
When the state government couldn't take any action, the people of Manipur thought that at least the police would be able to look after them. But no. That didn't happen.
This is the Leimakhong area of Imphal. Many Meitei women are standing on the roadside holding sticks. They're inspecting the cars coming towards them and stopping those cars that look suspicious.
During this, a woman gets a call from a police officer. Then these women start checking the cars more strictly. Actually, that woman gets a tip from a trusted Meitei police officer who told her about the movement of the Central Government forces.
Which are these Central Government forces? Assam Rifles and other soldiers of the Indian Army. But why is all this happening?
According to the women, they only trust the Meitei police officers and not Assam Rifles. This is an example of how much mistrust has arisen among the Manipuris. You can see this in other videos as well.
And that's not all. Manipuri police have also been divided. 3 months ago, in May, around 1,500 Meitei and Kuki policemen disappeared.
They left their duties and went to the police stations near their homes. The Kuki officers who were in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley, went to the hills. And those Meitei officers who were in the Kukki-dominated areas, went to the valleys.
So, the entire police force of Manipur has been divided into Meitei and Kuki camps. In fact, a senior official said that there is no Manipuri police left. There is either Meitei police or Kuki police.
And because the police have been divided, who has to bear the consequences? The common people. Listen to the story behind this viral video.
Imagine that the local police handed her over to the mob. But the story doesn't end there. Around 5,000 weapons, including assault rifles like the AK-47, were stolen by the police.
The Manipur police didn't even show much resistance. The DGP said that he had conducted several sessions with the police to convince them to return to their posts. He said that he was trying to prevent the police from dividing on the basis of ethnicity.
But unfortunately, the police aren't the only ones who are divided. According to the senior Meitei IAS officer, the Kuki officers left Manipur's old secretariat. He said that this is the best example indicating Manipur's current situation.
If we can't make our Kuki officers feel safe, what will happen to the entire state? Now you might think that the CM can't do anything, nor can the state police and IAS officers. But the central government can, right?
Supporters of the government claim that though PM Modi didn't make any public statement that doesn't mean that the central government isn't doing anything. And this is a valid argument. As soon as the violence started, Assam rifles were deployed in Manipur.
Home Minister Amit Shah himself went to Manipur to investigate the situation. He also met the leaders of the Kuki and Meitei groups. Many militant groups had blocked Manipur's highways.
But the centre assured Manipur that it will continue to supply essential items. Reports say that the Union Health Ministry has sent a team of doctors to Manipur. Despite all of this, did the Indian government fulfil its responsibilities?
Manipur's former DGP, who is the president of NPP, an ally of the BJP, said that the actions of the central government were reactive and not proactive. He said that when the violence started, the authorities should've known that the lives of the Meiteis living in the hills and the Kukis living in the valleys were in danger. The government should've done everything to save their lives.
But none of this happened. The Home Minister Amit Shah's visit didn't have much benefit from either. He was in Manipur for 4 days, which is uncommon.
Amit Shah promised that there would be a ceasefire between the two groups on the same night when he met them. But even after this announcement, violence continued and no ceasefire was announced. J.
Lungdim, a former defence official, said that Amit Shah had promised that the helicopter service from Churachandpur to Aizawal, Dimapur, Guwahati, and Shillong would begin soon. But apart from one service, which is from Imphal airport to Churachandpur, no other helicopter service has started. This helicopter service was very important because the Kukis couldn't go to Imphal or the areas where Meiteis were dominating.
Both Kukis and Meiteis said that Amit Shah's visit was of no use. The Coordinating Committee and Manipur Integrity is a body that represents the Meiteis. Its media coordinator said that Amit Shah had promised them that he would return after 10-15 days.
But Amit Shah did not return to Manipur. The Central Government said that despite the violence, there would be no shortage of food in Manipur. But still, many Manipuris are starving.
In June, the Indian government formed a 51-member peace committee to stop the violence. But several organizations that were on the committee, refused to participate. The Meites and Kuki groups said, why should we talk to the peace committee when the violence continues?
An executive member of the Coordination Committee and Manipur Integrity said, when the fire is still raging, how can we start peace talks? We've told the state and central government many times to save our villagers first. A prominent member of the committee and a theater personality also withdrew his name from the committee.
Due to the trips of leaders like Amit Shah, people should've become more confident in the central government. But instead, they're less confident. Not just in the central government, but also in the Indian Army.
Who controls the Assam Rifles? This is what Manipur's senior human rights activist said. He wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister and Home Minister.
Assam Rifles is a Central Armed Police Force, whose administration is under the Ministry of Home Affairs. But this letter criticized the Assam Rifles. It even said that the Assam Rifles had been siding with the Kuki Chin tribes and Kuki militant groups.
An on-the-ground journalist in Manipur said that this is the sentiment that the people of the Meitei community hold for the Assam Rifles. "The Kuki population does not trust the Meitei police. " "Meitei population does not trust the Assam Rifles, which is a part of the Indian Army.
" This doubt among the Meitei community intensified when they found food in the Kuki military's bunker which was actually for the Assam Rifles. For this reason, 27 km away from Imphal, in Vishnupur, the Meitei women did not even allow the Central Military personnel to enter their area. Irom Namita Devi, a local Meitei woman, said that she doesn't trust the Central Forces.
They don't protect us, and they are on the side of the Kukis. We will stay here, and we won't let them pass. According to Manipuris, neither the state government nor the police, nor the Central Government, nor the Central Forces did anything.
What did the BJP say in response to the criticism? This is a tweet by the Chief of the BJP IT cell, who said that this violence was instigated during the time of Congress. He said that the protests in Manipur were seen in 2015 and 2017, when Congress was in power.
In 2015, the Meiteis were protesting because they wanted to bring an inner-permit line system in Manipur, so that non-Manipuris can't enter their state. Because of these protests, the state legislature passed three bills. The purpose of these bills was to protect the rights of the indigenous people.
These bills defined who Manipuris are so that those who are not Manipuris can't enter Manipur, nor can they buy land there. The Kukis and Nagas were not happy with these bills. Again, if you want to know the historical context, you can check out this video.
They felt that these bills would make them outsiders, and they wouldn't be able to enter Meitei-dominated areas. They felt that these bills would allow the Meiteis to buy their land, which is in hilly areas. Because of this, three tribal student bodies started a protest against these bills.
During this protest, violence erupted. Then, on 8th July 2016, local police killed a student protester. After this, Manipur's situation worsened, and a curfew and lockdown was imposed on the state.
So, if the BJP government argues that violent protests are not happening for the first time during the BJP regime, they're right. There were violent protests during the Congress government as well. The conflict didn't just start two months ago.
In fact, the roots were sown many years ago. The BJP government is right in this regard as well. But this doesn't mean that the state and central government have no responsibility towards the people who lost their lives.
Governance is the responsibility of the ruling government. Even if you say that this conflict started long ago, how can you run away from your responsibility? When Congress doesn't have a government, how can you blame them for today's violence?
According to a local media house, the central government is deliberately doing nothing to stop the violence. They say that Manipur has had separatist groups for a long time. They want to make an independent Manipur.
They don't want to negotiate with the Indian government. According to this journalist, the government used a very old policy. Divide and rule.
This would reduce the influence of the separatist groups. And the Kukis and Meiteis would have to rely on the Indian government for their protection. Now, this theory is just an opinion of a journalist.
We don't have solid evidence to prove this intention of the central government. But we can say that the central government hasn't fulfilled its responsibility. So, courts, state government, and central government.
But there's a fourth pillar in our democracy. Media! "She claimed she fell in love while playing PUBG.
" "But now she has contact with other men. " "Is this a conspiracy by the ISI? " "Because Seema changed her religion.
" "She left Islam and adopted Hinduism. " Media! ?
This is a list of 102 journalists who gave a joint statement on July 12. What did these journalists demand? They had a simple demand.
That Manipur should be in the news. Because the mainstream media was busy with other things. Even when serious issues were being covered, there was no shortage of drama.
But some media organizations fulfilled their duty and reported from the ground. For example, Lallantop, India Today, and NDTV. Even if I don't agree with Karan Thapar's interview style, he interviewed many people from the Manipur society to find out their perspectives.
In fact, even before the video went viral, The Print reported on the sexual crimes in Manipur on July 12. According to a local journalist, a local reporter reported about the incident almost two months ago. The article clearly states how those women were mistreated.
But what did anyone care? Because the mainstream media was having its own fun. And even when this news reached the mainstream media, it was given an angle of communalisation.
After this video went viral, Manipur police arrested the first person in this case. In another case, the Imphal police arrested a man named Abdul. A well-known news agency, ANI, mixed up the two cases and said that Abdul had committed the crime.
Many BJP members blamed Abdul Khan. I'm not defending anyone. But if you're a big news agency and you know how hot the the atmosphere is in our country, you should at least do some fact-checking so that the atmosphere of our country doesn't deteriorate.
We can't blame just one person for Manipur's violence. This was an example of what happens when the entire system fails. Whether it's the central government, state government, courts, or the media.
And who suffers? Ordinary people. A retired Lt.
Gen. L. Nishakant Singh said that he's an ordinary Indian from Manipur who's living his retired life.
But today, his state has become stateless. Manipur has become like Libya, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Syria. Is anyone listening to their plight?
If we talk about solutions, we can't solve the complex history of Kukis and Meiteis in a few days. We need extensive negotiations. But the priority of the central and state governments should be to end the violence immediately.
So whether the central government has to remove the CM or criticize the Assam Rifles, they should do all this so that the violence stops first. After that, our government has to win the trust of both groups. For that, it's important to show that all the institutions aren't biased towards one group.
Whether it's the local police or the central secretariat. The Indian government has a famous foreign policy, Act East. It aims to build good relations with countries like Myanmar and for economic opportunities.
But it's better to follow 'Act Northeast' for some time instead of Act East. As I told you, if you want to understand the history of Manipur, then do watch this video. If you've already watched this video, then you can also watch this one, which talks about the history of Sikkim.
Because honestly, many people like us are ignorant about Northeast India. So do watch these two videos.
