The viral video has enraged the country and put to shame not just the administration but the society as a whole for the ghastly act of a mob of around 1,000 men who stripped two women naked, dragged, groped and pushed them into a field only to be gang raped, tore down any hope from the ‘double engine sarkar’ which watched or rather looked away when the State was burning.
Even 21 years later the self-proclaimed ‘Pradhan Sevak’ (head servant) has not learned any lesson on Rajadharma despite his journey from being a Chief Minister to the Prime Minister. If the Manipur communal riots are not a State-sponsored pogrom, they atleast remind of the legend of Nero who played the fiddle while Rome was burning.
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The current incident occurred on May 4 and the video went viral on July 19, two and half months later, but the Chief Minister very casually and candidly admitting that there are hundreds of such cases only speaks for the insensitivity of the ruling dispensation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a foreign tour while Manipur was burning and he remained silent for 77 days until the video surfaced and the Supreme Court took suo moto cognizance. Was not the Prime Minister updated by the Home Minister Amit Shah who had visited the State between May 29 and June 2 or the Chief Minister or the Governor about the ground situation? Or did the Prime Minister reenact Nero? Just like in 2002, the Chief Minister of Manipur too will neither resign nor will he be sacked for the failures, however, this time Singh will not be advised to follow Rajadharma either.
On July 25 last year, two minor girls were gang raped on Benaulim beach and their two male friends were beaten up, who had stayed back after a group of ten had partied that night. Facing a backlash on the deteriorating law and order situation, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant created controversy by stating, “You cannot blame only the government and police, parents are also responsible.” Weeks later, on Independence Day last year, Modi speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort gave a clarion call to all the citizens to ensure that women are not demeaned. On the same day, the Gujarat government released 11 men who were convicted in the infamous Bilkis Bano gang rape and murder of her family members including a three-year-old toddler.
According to the government data, Goa registered 282 crimes against women last year, and in the first six months of this year 119 crimes against women have been registered, including 43 rapes.
While the ‘double engine’ governments are failing in their primary duty of law and order, and administration, are the citizens of this country failing by letting the politics of hatred, communalism, and divisiveness attack the fundamentals of the society? Unity in diversity cannot just be a slogan but has to be lived by every citizen for the nation’s progress. Speak when they come for others, only then will there be someone to speak when they come for you.
