Assam’s Himanta Sarma slams ‘liberals’ over Manipur video ‘outrage’. Then shares these 6 news reports

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has questioned the “limited outrage” for the Northeast over a viral video, showing two women being paraded naked in strife-torn Manipur, and asked why similar “brutal crimes elsewhere” were ignored by “so called liberals”.

In a series of tweets, Sarma on Friday shared news reports from different media outlets on recent sexual violence cases against women that took place in other states -from Rajasthan to West Bengal.

“The incident in Manipur is horrendous and the perpetrators will face the full wrath of law. Unfortunately, there is a clear pattern among the so called liberals. The outrage is limited to the North East, while they will simply ignore equally brutal crimes elsewhere,” Sarma tweeted.

Sharing a series of news reports, Sarma wrote, “A family of four including a six-month-old infant were first murdered and burnt alive in Jodhpur on July 19th, 2023.”

“A Dalit minor was gangraped in front of her boyfriend in Jodhpur on 16th July 2023,” he said in another tweet.

“A BJP Karyakarta alleged that TMC workers urinated on him after he lost the election on July 13 , 2023,” Sarma added.

“A BJP candidate alleged she was stripped and paraded nude by TMC workers on July 8, 2023,” Sarma said sharing a news report.

“A minor tribal girl was gangraped by 8 people in Bihar on June 7, 2023… A tribal woman was gangraped by 10 people in broad daylight on the road in Chaibasa, Jharkhand on October 20, 2022,” the Assam CM said, adding that these are a few recent instances of horrific crimes committed against women or tribals, “even in my state Assam there have been similar incidents”.

Outrage after Manipur video went viral

A video shot on May 4 surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities in Manipur being paraded naked and molested by a mob from the other side. The alleged main accused was arrested on Thursday. The incident has drawn widespread condemnation across the country. The FIR on the incident was filed on June 21.

Earlier on Friday, Sarma questioned the timing of the release of the viral video, just a day before the commencement of Parliament’s monsoon session and claimed that politics was behind the leak.

Addressing a press conference, Sarma claimed that incidents of rape are much higher in some opposition-ruled states like West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh than BJP-ruled Manipur or other northeastern provinces.

“The case (regarding the incident) was registered long back, video was available. It was leaked a day before the commencement of the Parliament session. So, some kind of political things are involved,” he added.

Sarma, however, said in the same breath that it was a gruesome incident and it cannot be condoned despite the timing of the release of the video.

“Irrespective of the date of release of the video, the incident should be condemned, culprits should be punished — on that I have no issue. But you should not defame the entire Manipur or Northeast,” he added.

Over 160 people have been killed and several injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.