‘Shaken’: Akshay Kumar, Richa Chadha on video of Manipur women paraded naked
The horrific video of two women paraded naked by a mob and then gangraped, which emerged from strife-torn Manipur, sparked nationwide outrage Wednesday night, evoking calls for strong action against perpetrators by the public across social media.
Some Bollywood actors also waded into the online protests, as they demanded harshest punishment for the culprits. Actors Akshay Kumar, Richa Chada, and Renuka Sahane were among the first celebrities to express concern over the state of lawlessness in the northeastern state that is bearing the brunt of ethnic clashes between two communities, Meiteis and Kukis since the beginning of May.
Akshya Kumar took to Twitter to demand justice for the victims and wrote, “Shaken, disgusted to see the video of violence against women in Manipur. I hope the culprits get such a harsh punishment that no one ever thinks of doing a horrifying thing like this again.”
Meanwhile, Richa Chada quote Tweeted another post about the video and echoed similar sentiments. “Shameful! Horrific! Lawless!” she wrote.
Urmila Matondkar questions ‘deafeaning silence’
Urmila Matondkar strongly reacted and said, “Shocked, shaken, horrified at Manipur video and the fact that it’s happened in May with no action on it. Shame on those sitting on their high horses drunk with power, jokers in media boot licking them, celebrities who are silent. When did we reach here dear Bharatiyas/Indians?”
Renuka Shahane points to government’s failure
Actress Renuka Shahane pointed to the government’s failure to control the violence and questioned if there is no one to stop the atrocities in Manipur. “Is there no one to stop the atrocities in Manipur? If you are not shaken to the core by that disturbing video of two women, is it even right to call oneself human, let alone Bharatiya or Indian!”
Comedian Vir Das also tweeted saying, “Asking for a friend. How many conclaves and summits do the people of Manipur need to sponsor before the mainstream media will cover them on prime time?”
The public has been pressing their favourite actors and sports persons to speak on the crisis as several social media posts surfaced questioning the “deafening silence” around the issue, which has persisted in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state since May 3.
Manipur violence trends on Twitter
Social media platforms such as Twitter remained flooded with massive outrage over the delayed action on the incident of assault, which went viral yesterday, however, dates back to May 4. Hashtags such as ‘Manipur violence’, ‘enough is enough’ trended massively on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the police said a complaint was filed last month. Police said a case of abduction, gang rape and murder has been registered against unknown armed miscreants in the matter. Union minister Smriti Irani also tweeted, after the video surfaced, and said an investigation was underway. Manipur is facing an internet shutdown since the clashes broke out over “law and order” issues.
The ethnic clashes erupted in the state on May 3, during a rally organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU). The rally was held in protest by Kukis against the demand for the inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list.