Guwahati: The incident in Manipur is horrendous, and the perpetrators will face the full wrath of the law, said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a press conference in Guwahati on July 21. But the heinous incident took place on May 4, and the video was made viral just before the monsoon session of the parliament must have some political theory, Chief Minister Sarma added.
He also said that, unfortunately, there is a clear pattern among the so-called liberals. The outrage is limited to the North East, while they will ignore equally brutal crimes elsewhere. In a series of tweets, CM Sarma mentioned that A family of four, including a six-month-old infant, were first murdered and burnt alive in Jodhpur on July 19, 2023, and Congress is keeping mum. A Dalit minor was gang-raped in front of her boyfriend in Jodhpur on July 16 2023; again, Congress is silent.
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Karyakarta alleged that Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers urinated on him after he lost the election on July 13, 2023. Mamta Didi and the opposition are silent. A BJP candidate alleged she was stripped and paraded nude by TMC workers on July 8, 2023; oppositions are reactionless.
Eight people in Bihar gang-raped a minor tribal girl on June 7, 2023; the opposition never questioned it. A tribal woman was gang-raped by ten people in broad daylight on the road in Chaibasa, Jharkhand, on October 20, 2022; the opposition parties are completely silent as if these are not heinous crimes, CM Sarma questioned. He further said these are a few recent horrific crimes against women or tribals; there have been similar incidents in my State, Assam. Crimes occurring anywhere need to be condemned. But why only target Manipur and North East? CM Sarma said. If you compare, there were 27 rape cases, including the latest incident in Manipur and 6000 rape cases registered in Rajasthan. Then why do you blame the entire State? We all condemned the horrific incident, but don’t condemn the whole State or entire NE region for one such incident, CM Sarma said. Criticising the opposition for targeting the entire State, CM Sarma said they are condemning the State so that everyone who was never involved in such a crime also feels bad and guilty. Even they are condemning the entire North East. It should be restricted to the particular incident, and why are you bringing the name of Manipur again and again? Congress party is running a battle against Manipur because a BJP Government runs the State.
Congress should not make it a weapon to defame this part of the Nation. This type of incident is taking place in Congress rule states every day, CM Sarma said. We all are angry and outraged, we have condemned the inhuman crime, and we want the Manipur government to file a full-proof charge sheet so that the judiciary can give exemplary punishment to the culprits. But making it a weapon to defame entire Manipur and North East is not acceptable. Taking a jibe at West Bengal counterparts Mamta Banerjee, CM Sarma said she should come with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on how much rape is happening in her State.
If there is no rape incident in West Bengal, I will salute her. Didi has been the CM for a long period in West Bengal. Were there no rape incidents in the State during her tenure? All these incidents where the dignity of women is hurt are always painful, but why are you making it a political weapon? Very few rape incidents happen in North Eastern states like Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland. This is a painful incident compared to other states of India. Still, the opposition is giving it such a political colour and image that incidents like this occur daily in Manipur.
The crime records bureau data is available on the net; I challenge the opposition parties to compare their data with Manipur and other Northeastern states. Rahul Gandhi should apologise before defaming Manipur. He should condemn the particular incident, but he is defaming the State in such a way as if the incident is taking place in every nook and corner and every house of Manipur, CM Sarma said.
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