Manipur naked parade video: Lessons we must learn

Let's not miss the woods for the trees in this horrific saga that is unfolding in Manipur.

The state administration doesn’t wake up to a heinous crime until a video of women being disrobed and molested goes viral on social media. What does it say about governance and administration? 

Are we saying that till the time cameras expose a crime, law enforcement is allowed to remain in a state of slumber? As it now turns out from the highest offices down to the local level, everyone was aware of the Kangpokpi incident of Manipur where two women were publicly violated on the 4th of May this year. The shame here is that such incidents had become so much part of this ugly fratricidal war that it was treated as just another ghastly episode in a series of such cases in this raging revenge war between the two ethnicities of Manipur- the hill tribes versus the valley people. 
 
A crime against humanity goes unpunished, everyone goes around business as usual until someone decides to post the video and awaken the public. There are two or three theories on why the video did not leak earlier. Internet suspension is one of them since the guilty side supposedly enjoys the tacit support of the ruling dispensation. Truth always has a way of emerging out of the lies and deception in the most inopportune moment. And I am glad that social media machinery has ensured that the truth is not buried. So here are the three big lessons that Manipur mayhem teaches us. 

One, there is no hope for the common people to get justice or even a semblance of dignified existence when those in power are hand in glove with the criminals. It's lost on no one right now that the Kangpokpi incident is not an isolated one. There are many more equally or more disturbing instances of barbarity of killing and maiming, and brutal rape and I shudder to think how many such instances are buried because the perpetrators were aligned with the ruling side. Every couple of weeks newspaper headlines come up saying- violence erupts again in Manipur. The reality is that the violence never stopped, our attention may have shifted. And now as if on cue the district administration and state govt are shaken out of their stupor and immediate action is taken, culprits are booked with alacrity. Suddenly the administration has decided to get its act together after the public outrage and national outcry. With the entire state resources along with paramilitary forces at his disposal will anyone believe that N Biren Singh government was helpless to nab the criminals after the incident was reported? When asked about the delay the Cm says there are thousands of such FIRs and one doesn’t know where to start. That’s a blatant lie. Is it not evident from the video that the culprits were given a free run? Look at their body language. Is there any fear of law and why will any such fear surface when they know that they have the active support of the highest office, and the CM is after all one from their community? Who will they be afraid of? The other argument presented was that the community shields the culprits so there is no way to identify them. So, until the outing of the video, taking any action was not possible. Does that mean now Manipur’s law and order will remain subjected to how actively social media reports crime? This convenient shedding of crocodile tears and the vain attempt to create an impression of taking action is a ridiculous charade only to redeem himself from deliberate inaction.  
 
Secondly, when it comes to any issue of crime against women, look at the trajectory right from the reporting of the crime to the fate it meets. There is no redressal from anywhere. You may have mustered the courage to report to police (which is a tall order in rape cases because of the stigma associated), when you get no reprieve there you approach national commission for women (NCW) where the matter is stuck, and you never hear back. The file simply moves from one office to another, and it remains caught in the quagmire. In this case an FIR is filed, the police simply sit on it with no intent to act for reasons cited above. When asked about why the NCW didn't act on the matter, the chairperson says she wrote to the state chief secretary and there was no response. I would really like to see what is the alibi that the NCW didn't find it an appropriate case to act immediately or does your job over with just shooting off a letter to another state level authority? So where is the redressal mechanism for sexual crimes against women? Why are we even sustaining these women's rights commissions on taxpayers' money when they remain impotent with practically no use to the women of this country who they claim to serve?  These commissions have once again exposed themselves as stooges of the ruling dispensation, with no power or influence of their own. So, except for draining the state exchequer they serve no purpose at all. I would say disband them all and save state expenses. 
 
Last but not the least. Manipur is today a microcosm of the country at large in displaying how majoritarian politics can tear the fabric of a state asunder. If you thought the vengeful men who were seen gleefully molesting a woman of the rival community were inhuman brutes, I would say those political leaders who created these demons are the bigger monsters. When you play one citizen against another by whipping up sectarian sentiments hoping to consolidate one vote bank to the exclusion of other, this is what you get. It’s the same brand of politics that the ruling party is playing at the national level. Consolidate one community, isolate the rest, and retain power. Let Manipur be a mirror to what that can lead to.