Manipur video: Questions raised over NCW’s response to complaints

Manipur video: The NCW chief usually quick to weigh in on issues, big and small, said the complaints were generic, from outside the country in some cases.

National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma tied herself up in knots on Friday, seeking to explain the usually hyperactive body’s sluggish reaction to complaints of sex crimes in Manipur amid the ethnic violence in the state, including a June 12 one that specifically detailed the stripping-parading-gang rape incident that came to light earlier this week, prompting responses from the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India, and sparking nationwide outrage.

Students from various organisations stage a protest against the ongoing Manipur violence, at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI)

Sharma, usually quick to weigh in on issues, big and small, said the complaints were generic, from outside the country in some cases, and that they had been forwarded to the state government, which had not authenticated any of the incidents.

Her response did serve to answer the original question of whether NCW ignored complaints of the May 4 (stripping-parading-gang rape) incident even after being specifically alerted about it 38 days ago. The answer is: Yes.

In a letter dated June 12, a copy of which is with HT, the North American Manipur Tribal Association and two Manipuri women activists, who asked not to be identified, wrote: “On May 4, two women from B. Phainom village of Kangpokpi District of Manipur were disrobed, paraded naked, beaten, and then encircled by a marauding Meitei mob and raped in public. The state police commandos remained mere spectators while the mobs remained silent spectators to the lynchings and torching of homes. The two survivors are housed at a Churachandpur district relief camp.”

Requesting the commission to constitute a committee to inquire into the incidents, the complainants said: “We have faith in the Constitution of India and the enormous power that the National Commission for Women exercises to create a just world where the rights of all Indian women are respected, realised, and valued, even in times of conflict and war. Concurrently, we appeal to NCW to extend assistance to victims and survivors.”

One of the complainants said: “There has been no acknowledgment of receipt or response from NCW till date.”

The June 12 complaint also detailed at least five other instances of violence and sexual assault against women that allegedly took place between May 3 and May 15 in different parts of Manipur.

It would appear that NCW waited to take action till the video of the May 4 incident emerged on July 19. It showed two women being paraded naked by a mob.

Sharma on Friday said she wrote to the chief secretary (CS) and director general of police (DGP) of the state at least three times in the past three months, and forwarded all the complaints received by her to them, including the June 12 complaint which mentioned various cases of sexual assault against women, including the May 4 incident.

“We wrote the first letter to the CS and DGP in May itself after receiving a complaint from a group of women based in Manipur. In June, we again received a complaint from two people who were not from Manipur; one of them was from outside India and another from Hyderabad. They mentioned many cases of alleged sexual violence from Manipur and not just one specific incident. We immediately forwarded that along with a letter to the CS and DG,” she told reporters.

“Since the complaint was from people not based in Manipur and in fact, not even in the country, we had to verify the authenticity of it. Therefore, we contacted the authorities in the state to verify them, but there was no response,” she added.

The letters were sent by the commission on May 23, May 29 and June 19.

“Later, when the video surfaced on social media, we took suo motu cognisance and wrote to the authorities and told them that they need to arrest the culprits immediately,” she said.

According to Section 10 of the National Commission for Women Act, the commission is supposed to take up cases of violation of provisions of the Constitution and of other laws relating to women with appropriate authorities, and look into complaints and take suo motu notice of matters relating to deprivation of women’s rights and non-implementation of laws enacted to provide protection to women.

The commission can call for special studies or investigations into specific problems or situations arising out of discrimination and atrocities against women, and identify the constraints so as to recommend strategies for their removal.

“The women commission can only advise the authorities and we did our work by advising the authorities in Manipur,” Sharma said.

“It is not correct that NCW was sitting on the complaints. There are some people who are trying to malign the name of NCW and the government of India. I would like to clarify that whenever the complaints came, we forwarded and wrote to the DGP and CS of Manipur,” she added.

“I have also asked the chief minister (N Biren Singh) to question the CS and DGP on why they did not respond to my letters,” she added.

When asked why the commission did not send a delegation to the state, Sharma said: “Do you think a delegation could go there considering the situation? We did not send the delegation because the ground reality was known to everyone.”

Experts, however, said the commission’s role is not just limited to sending letters or making calls.

Ranjana Kumari, chairperson of Women Power Connect, a national organisation of women’s groups, said: “NCW has completely failed to fulfil its responsibility of protecting women and their dignity. It is not really standing by the women of India. It cannot just get away by saying that authorities did not respond to their letters. Why didn’t it just send a delegation? The state should have provided them with security or they could have reached out to the central government for security since they are a national commission.”

Indeed, soon after the post-poll violence in West Bengal in 2021, Sharma headed an NCW team that visited the state, and strongly criticised the Trinamool Congress government of the state on her return.

In case of Manipur, though, she seems to have been content with merely forwarding complaints.