Jharkhand CM urges President Murmu to take steps on Manipur situation

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, expressing his anguish over the "unspeakable torture" of women in violence-hit Manipur and urged her to take steps to ensure peace in the northeastern state.

The country cannot let tribals in Manipur be treated in a "barbaric way", he said in the letter days after a video of women being paraded naked in the northeastern state surfaced.

"Silence in the face of cruelty is a terrible crime and so I am compelled today to write to you with a heavy heart and profound anguish over the ongoing spate of violence in the state of Manipur...I am deeply distressed and concerned about the spiralling situation in Manipur... unspeakable torture and sexual exploitation of women...."

Manipur is "burning for two months, heart-wrenching videos are surfacing" and there is an "unparalleled breakdown of democratic governance" in the northeastern state, Soren said in the letter.

He urged the President to ensure justice for the people of Manipur and restore peace there.

"In this darkest hour of crisis that Manipur and India face, we look up to you as the last source of hope and inspiration who could show the light in these troubled times to the people of Manipur and all citizens of India," Soren said.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May 3 between the majority Meitei community, concentrated in the Imphal valley, and the tribal Kukis, occupying the hills.

More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several have been injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state early in May when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.