Civil rights activist Irom Sharmila on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately intervene to address the situation in her home state Manipur and described the incident of strip-and-parade of two tribal women as "inhuman" and "very disturbing". She also demanded that Chief Minister N Biren Singh admit his failure and apologise to the people of Manipur. The 51-year-old award winning activist said she could not hold back her tears after watching the strip parade video which sparked nationwide outrage.
"It's inhuman and quite a disturbing incident. I could not hold my tears seeing the video I have received. I am deeply pained and shocked," said Sharmila in an interview with news agency PTI.
Sharmila had been on a hunger strike for 16 years demanding repeal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the seven northeastern states of the country and was nasally force fed during that time and broke her fast in 2016.
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"It's clear that the state government in Manipur has failed totally. And when a state cannot control the situation, why is the Prime Minister silent? He should protect the people of Manipur. If he is concerned about the suffering of the people of Manipur, he must intervene... Like the people of Gujarat, the Maniuris also require his leadership," she said.
"The CM must talk to all 60 MLAs putting aside the differences. He must talk to them one-to-one and consider their opinions and decide how to stop the feeling of hatred between the two communities (Meitei and Kuki). That is the need of the hour," she said.
The “iron lady” of Manipur said she felt the ban on the internet to curb the circulation of fake news and videos in the ethnic violence-hit state of Manipur did not help and that the internet had been working, the women (strip parade victims) could have got justice and the culprits were behind bars.