Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 30 Jul: Hundreds joined a candlelight march organised by the Arunachal Pradesh Kuki-Zo Forum (APKZF) to express solidarity with the two Kuki-Zo girls who were paraded naked and raped by a Meitei mob in Manipur.
The participants, who marched from Akashdeep complex to the tennis court here, called out to the central and the Manipur governments to bring the perpetrators to book.
The solidarity march was aimed at sending out a strong message to the Centre and the Manipur government against rape as a weapon of war.
The horrific rape of two Kuki-Zo girls has shaken the core of the nation and forced Prime Minister Modi to speak up after 79 days of violence in Manipur.
“Through this candlelight march, we sincerely urge the president of India and the prime minister to step in and come up with a solution. It’s been three months and violence continues. People are dying in Manipur. Stop this violence from continuing,” said APKZF president Khupsuanlian Simte.
“We don’t want to blame one community. But even in a war, there are ethics; so we are not supposed to do such kind of heinous crimes on women. Both the communities who are part of this violence must be careful with regard to women’s dignity in such a situation,” he added, and appealed to the Meitei brethren to come and support them in the rally against sexual violence against women.
Simte further said that the Kuki-Zo community would join any protest march against sexual violence on women organised by the Meitei community.
Members of several organisations took part in similar solidarity marches in different part of the Northeast.
