New Delhi, Jul 30 (EFE).- A coalition of opposition parties accused the Government of India this Sunday of having “completely failed” to put an end to the violence that has shaken the northeastern state of Manipur for three months, with at least least 142 dead and numerous allegations of sexual abuse including a viral video of two women who were forced to parade naked.
“The failure of both the central government and the state to protect the life and property of the people of the two communities is demonstrated by the data of more than 140 deaths, more than 500 injuries, the burning of more than 5,000 houses and the internal displacement of more than 60,000 people,” the opposition coalition National Alliance for Inclusive Development of India (INDIA) accused in a letter delivered to the governor of Manipur.
Some twenty members of the coalition, recently formed in view of the general elections next year and made up of 26 political formations led by the historic Indian Congress Party (INC), concluded a two-day trip to the state to assess the situation.
“It is clear beyond any doubt that the state machinery has completely failed to control the situation in the last almost three months,” the opposition coalition said after visiting several refugee camps.
Manipur was plunged into a wave of violence on May 3, when hostilities broke out between the Kuki tribal minority and the Meitei majority when a court requested the classification of the latter community as a “tribal group”, which would allow them access to public positions under advantageous conditions.
The opposition called on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore peace in Manipur with “justice as the cornerstone.”
A video recorded in early May of two women who were forced to parade naked in front of dozens of men in a rural area of the Thoubal district emerged last week, sparking outrage in India.
Modi condemned the event, in his first reference to the conflict since it broke out, but has drawn criticism for his silence about widespread violence in a state also ruled by his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The opposition coalition presented in Parliament last Wednesday two motions of no confidence against the Government, both doomed to failure but which would force the president to render accounts for the wave of ethnic violence. EFE
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