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print versionDate: 22 July 2023
To
Ms. Rekha Sharma,
Chairperson,
National Commission for Women
Dear Ms. Rekha Sharma,
We, the undersigned women’s organizations, are deeply shocked and appalled to learn that a complaint had been made to the National Commission for Women (NCW) on 12 June 2023, regarding the heinous incident in Manipur of three women being publicly stripped and raped by a mob and that the NCW far from responding to the call of distress and taking immediate action, wrote letters to the Manipur government and kept waiting for a response. Hence, the NCW remained entirely inactive for more than a month. It is reported that there are other cases of sexual violence in Manipur. Only a couple of days back when a video clip of the brutal torture became public and there was widespread outrage all over the country, did the NCW wake from its sleep and take ’suo moto cognizance’ of the crime.
It is disturbing that no action was taken, except for the filing of a more a mere zero FIR in the incident that had happened on May 4, right after the ethnic violence began on 3 May 2023. This made the police apathy with the victims and collusion with the perpetrators of the crime abundantly clear.
And the deafening silence of the CM and PM was highly condemnable. You are aware that the incidents of violence against women in the country have been on the rise. Did you not realize that women have become the direct victims of the ongoing ethnic violence in the state?
We are strongly of the opinion that the NCW has betrayed its mandate and deliberately sought to cover up this incident. At the very least this is evidence of gross negligence on the part of a respected public institution like NCW which has the obligatory duty of protecting women in the country and upholding their rights irrespective of class, caste, religion, language, or ethnic origin.
Our organizations have given leadership in the struggle to bring into existence a National Commission for Women which would maintain its autonomy and dignity in serving its high purpose and not act as an arm of the ruling party. We have often raised our voices to ensure that NCW does not falter from its lofty objective. NCW has a history of proactive interventions in the myriad issues concerning women. But under your stewardship, we have seen this institution degenerating into partisanship with the ruling dispensation. Your claims of having communicated to the officials in Manipur are too little too late. Never have we seen the institution so shamefully undermining its own mandate. We feel the NCW - in deliberately ignoring and suppressing this atrocious attack upon two tribal women - has misused its office, besmirched its own position, and betrayed the trust the women’s movement in the country had reposed upon it. As chairperson of NCW, we hold you responsible for this shameful situation and we demand that you should forthwith submit your resignation from the post which you have proved yourself unworthy of.
- ALL INDIA DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION (AIDWA)–Mariam Dhawale 9560221371
- NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDIAN WOMEN (NFIW) – Annie Raja 9868181992
- ALL INDIA PROGRESSIVE WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION (AIPWA) – Meena Tiwari 7765857417
- ALL INDIA COORDINATION OF POW PMS IJM – G. Jhansi, Poonam Kaushik 9811136242
- ALL INDIA MAHILA SANSKRITIK SANGHATAN (AIMSS) – Chhabi Mohanty 9438540060
- ALL INDIA AGRAGAMI MAHILA SAMITI (AIAMS) – Fatima Khatoon 9304851050
