NERPF, NEFIS decry rape of Manipuri girl in Delhi
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, February 09 2014: North East Regional Parties Front (NERPF) and The Chief Minister of Nagaland and Convenor of the North East Regional Parties Front (NERPF) and North East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) have strongly condemned the rape of a 14-year old minor girl from Manipur's Churachandpur district at Munirka area of South Delhi by the son of their landlord on February 7 .

In separate statements, NERPF and NEFIS have also demanded immediate justice be delivered to the victim by giving severest form of punishment to the culprits.

In a statement issued by its Secretary Abu Metha, NERPF said that the incident deserves to be condemned by every right thinking citizen of the country.

While welcoming the steps taken by the Central government to set up a panel and the assurances given by the Delhi Chief Minister, NERPF observed that such steps are too late and too little.

The Government of India must come up with concrete steps to ensure that the issue related to discrimination of people from the north east is addressed as a national issue, instead of making piecemeal announcements from time to time.

It is unfortunate that the Government of India is waking up from its slumber of systematic neglect of the region only now after the people of the region have protested and all regional parties of the region have taken the matter to the President of India and the Union Government.

NERPF demands from Government of India that immediate steps be taken to set up state-of-the-art modern educational institutions in the north eastern region and create infrastructure and put in place economic policies backed by concrete action that will create educational and job opportunities for the youth within the region, Metha suggested.

NERPF has also condemned the brutal manner in which two young women from Manipur were assaulted and thrashed in Delhi and the cold blooded murder of Nido Tania.

These incidents are just the tip of the iceberg of the enormous amount of discrimination that the people of the north east have to face in other parts of the country especially in the national capital region, Metha added.

On the other hand, while condemning the rape of the minor girl by the landlord's son in Munirka, North East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) pointed out that the victim has suffered fatal injuries and is now admitted in Safdarjung hospital.

But the police refused to file the FIR of the victim, thus leading to a huge protest outside the Vasant Vihar police station.

It was only after strong pressure from NEFIS and other women' and progressive student organizations that the police finally filed the FIR.

The incidents of violence towards the people from the North East has increased rapidly over the past few years and it is high time that police and the administration takes cognizance of this growing menace and becomes proactive in the protection of the vulnerable sections of the society.

Otherwise, these issues will snowball into nationwide protests and agitation, NEFIS cautioned, while calling for a protest in all the major cities of the North East against the repeated violence committed towards the North East people and to express the anger and discontent of the North East people.

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