'Torturing domestic help common among Manipuris'
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 01 2013 :
In the light of an airhostess and her sister being sent to Judicial Custody for assaulting a domestic help in Delhi, a Delhi based social activist, K Zou, who is also a functionary of All India Tribal Students' Association (AITSA) said torturing maid servant is common among fellow Manipuri, tribal and Meitei alike, in Delhi and other mainland cities.
"The arrest of Air hostess Bira Thoibi by Delhi Police for allegedly torturing her (fellow) Manipuri maid servant may be the first incident in the eyes of the law, but it is a common practice among the so called well off Manipuri (Tribal/Meitei) family in Delhi," K Zou said.
Though the ethnic mongoloid people look fresh, cheerful, simple and friendly in the eyes of the mainland people in Delhi or somewhere else, our natural humanity suddenly changes the moment we get lucrative income or promotion in our service, the activist noted.
Pointing out that the Grievance Cell of the All India Tribal Students' Assn, (AITSA) Delhi, received several cases of torturing domestic helps by many couples from Manipur working or running businesses in Delhi, K Zou in a statement said these shameful cases however often got resolved in a customary process without reporting to the police or newspapers, in the interest of maintaining the dignity of the ethnic mongoloid people in the mainland.
Unlike the Hindu society of caste system, where some section of the community is meant to serve the upper caste sections of the society, we the mongoloid people, from North East (Manipur) neither have such system of keeping slaves/servants nor do we know how to work like a Hindu slave, he said.
As cases of torturing a Manipuri (Hill/Valley) maid servant by a Manipuri couple in Delhi and the mainland is common, AITSA appealed to the civil society organisations of Manipur and the Media, to spread awareness about the seriousness of the punishment for ill treating domestic maid servant while also cautioning parents to be careful and always to keep in touch with their daughters working as maid servant (who are usually called relative helper) in the mainland.
If necessary, AITSA Grievance Cell can be contacted at [email protected], it added .