Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the release of the video of women being paraded naked in Manipur right before the beginning of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament is "prima facie" a conspiracy to defame the Narendra Modi government.
Shah's comment came as the Centre transferred the investigation into the incident to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Last week, a video surfaced that showed tribal women being paraded naked and groped by a mob in Manipur. The incident took place on May 4, a day after ethnic violence broke out between the state's Meitei and tribal communities. The video led to nationwide outrage and a political storm. The Opposition has been pressing the Centre for a debate on Manipur in the Parliament and is calling for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a statement on the situation in the state.
Besides handing over the investigation, at the request of the Manipur government, the Centre has also asked the Supreme Court to transfer the trial outside of the state. Shah said that this was for the sake of impartiality.
The Hindustan Times (HT) reported that Shah told media that the person who shot the video of the May 4 incident has been arrested and the device the video was shot on has also been recovered.
The HT reported, "Briefing the media in details about the genesis of Kuki-Meitei conflict since the 1990s to the present situation in Manipur, Home Minister Amit Shah said that the videographer of the viral video involving hapless Kuki women has been arrested and the mobile from which he had taken the shots has been seized to unearth what prima facie appears to be a conspiracy to embarrass the Modi government on the eve of Monsoon session of Parliament."
Shah further said that six cases related to Manipur ethnic violence have been transferred to CBI and National Investigation Agency (NIA) too has been handed some investigations.
“Six cases have already been sent to CBI, and the seventh is on its way. We want, for the sake of impartiality, trials in these cases to be held outside the state of Manipur,” Shah said. Three other cases have been handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA)," said Shah, as per HT.
Manipur has been in the grips of ethnic violence since May 3 when a Tribal Solidarity March was held in the state against the proposed scheduled tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community. Since then, around 150 people have been killed and several thousand have been displaced.
The Centre has said multiple times that it's ready for a discussion on Manipur in the Parliament and that Shah will respond to the discussion, but the Opposition has continued to press its demand for Modi to make a statement. Since the beginning of violence in Manipur, the Opposition has slammed Modi for his silence on the issue. It was only after the video of tribal women being paraded naked surfaced and led to nationwide outrage that Modi made first comments on the situation in Manipur. He called the incident "shameful" and said the "incident will put any civilised society to shame".
The HT reported Shah as saying that the government was not aware of the video until it appeared and security personnel were not at the site.
"Shah clarified that neither him nor intelligence agencies had any clue about the May 4 video, and said that strictest action will be taken against the culprits, and others accused in the 6,065 FIRs filed by the state police. Neither the army nor the police were present when the May 4 video was shot, he said," reported HT.
Shah further said the Opposition did not have an interest in discussing Manipur in the Parliament.
The HT reported, "The minister said he had no options but to reach out to the public via the media as the Opposition was not interested in any debate in Parliament. He said with the railways reaching Manipur within months of its being planned, the prices of food, petrol and essential commodities had cooled, and were comparable to Delhi now."
