Who is fighting whom? Meitei, Kuki and Naga militias have for decades fought one another over conflicting homeland demands and religious differences, and all sides have clashed with India’s security forces. The current conflict between Meitei and kuki communities was sparked by a court ruling in March that granted the majority Meitei “scheduled tribal status”, entitling them to the same economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education as the minority Kuki. Manipur, in north-eastern India, has been gripped by ethnic violence between the majority Meitei group and the tribal Kuki minority since May. Reports from the ground detail chilling accounts of shootings, looting and sexual assault.
The emergence of a horrific video that shows two naked women being paraded and molested by a mob in the violence-hit Indian state of Manipur has highlighted who often pays the highest price during conflict. The assault on the women took place almost three months ago but became public only on Thursday after the video went viral on Twitter. According to a police complaint, one of the women was gang raped. The complaint added that a third woman was also forced to strip but she is not seen in the video. The video shows the distraught women being pushed around and groped by their attackers. While the men’s faces are visible, only one main perpetrator who lead this monstrous attack has been arrested so far on charges of gang rape. the sexual violence shown in the video took place after fake news about a Meitei woman’s rape and murder was circulated just after the violence began. It unleashed a new, deadly cycle of reprisal violence on Kuki tribal women allegedly by Meitei mobs.
Rape has long been used as a weapon of violence during conflict. The most large-scale incidents of violence – the 1947 partition of India, the 1971 Bangladesh independence war, the 1984 Sikh carnage, the civil war in Sri Lanka, the 2002 Gujarat Muslim carnage to give just a few examples from South Asia – appalling instances of sexual assault and gang rape have been reported, with the scale of the brutality sometimes uncovered only decades later. Survivor accounts show that the crime is often attributed to revenge against the “other” through violating the bodies of women – seen as a site of honour for their communities. The state’s mechanisms to end the conflict – such as the army and other security forces – have also been accused of brutal sexual violence in places such as Indian-administered Kashmir and the north-eastern states and during Sikh struggle after Indian army attack on Darbaar sahib in June 1984.
The price that women pay for this violence done on their bodies is often hidden and very private. The women’s movement has been bringing attention to this for decades, yet it continues,” What makes matters worse is state apathy and stoic silence of Indian prime minister Modi for 75 days despite being regularly briefed by state chief minister as reported in print media. Vikram Singh, a former police chief in Uttar Pradesh state, says that the “shameful” incident raises grave questions about the police and administration. No administration in a country like India is so helpless that it cannot do anything when women are treated like this,” he says, adding that apart from the perpetrators, the police officials in question should also be punished. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has often spoken about empowering women and educating girls, had not publicly commented on the crisis in Manipur for full two and half months despite repeated calls from citizens and opposition leaders.
Ensuring access to justice is the state’s responsibility. But in most cases, the state and administration are totally missing in the fight for justice,” In India, sexual violence in many circumstances often goes unreported as traumatised victims fear being cast out by their families and ostracised by society. The victims of sexual violence in conflict zones are also facing overlapping traumas – from loss of livelihood to deaths of family members – which can make them minimise their experiences. The Bilkis Bano, a victim of 2002 Gujarat Muslim carnage was gang-raped and saw 14 members of her family being murdered by a Hindu mob during the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat state. But the 11 convicts in the case were granted an early release from jail last year by the state’s BJP government – when the men walked free on India’s independence day, relatives celebrated by giving them sweets and touching their feet. Reports said the men were also garlanded by activists of a hardline Hindu organisation.
Bilkis is an exception because she was one of the very few victims who was able to fight her case. Hers is a landmark case because she was the exception to the rule, Ethnic violence has plunged Manipur, India’s scenic state bordering Myanmar, into turmoil. Persistent clashes between the Meiteis and Kukis for over two months have left both feeling besieged. The neighbouring villages of these communities appear to be particularly susceptible to attacks. The ethnic divide in Manipur is bitter and deep. Churachandpur, a tribal district in the south, sits atop the lush green hills, some 80km (49 miles) south-west of Imphal, the Meitei-dominated valley capital. The Kukis and Meiteis bleed into each other as the sweeping hills descend into the valley. Today, however, the two groups are livid at each other, divided – and separated. The compulsions of geography mean that an estimated 300,000 mostly Kuki people who live in Churachandpur are now isolated from the Imphal valley, where the Meitei majority also enjoys political dominance. Life and work between the two communities has stalled. Internet has been cut all over the state, further heightening the isolation.Access now a international forum in its latest report has pointed out that for last five years india is one such country where most internet shut down happens.
Kimmoui Lhouvum a social activist from Kangpokpi , where two women of kuki tribe were disrobed Says that “we have been talking about such incidents from the time violence started. Nobody listened to us. The Manipur state turned its back on our community much before may 3. Justice no longer exists for us we have been dehumanised to an extent where there is no going back.
