The historic visit
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: April 29, 2013 -

Executive Director of HRA Babloo Loitongbam delivering the vote of thanks of the meeting :: Pix - Hueiyen Lanpao

With a well known history of denials or restrictions on the visit of several UN representatives to Manipur by the Government of India in the past, the two-day long visit of UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its Causes and Consequences (UNSRVAW) Rashida Manjoo to hold a consultative meeting with representatives of civil society organizations, women human rights defenders, victims and other advocates working on violence against women in the State is simply historic.

Rashida has landed at Imphal as part of her ongoing official mission to India from April 22 to May 1 to assess the different manifestations of violence against women taking place in the country.

Of course, this is also the first ever official visit to India by an independent expert like UNSRVAW since its inception by United Nations Commission on Human Rights on March 4, 1994.

During her 10-day long stay in India, Rashida would be visiting different States to interact not just with representatives of civil societies but also with Government authorities to contribute her mite in the ongoing efforts of fighting violence against women in the country and based on these feedbacks, she would be submitting her report and recommendations to the UN Commission on Human Rights in time for its forthcoming session at Geneva sometime in June this year for necessary directives and actions.

With growing world -wide concern over rising cases of violence and crimes against women in India specially in the wake of the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year old paramedical student by six persons including a juvenile in a moving bus at New Delhi in December last year and the more recent abduction and gang-rape of a 5-year old minor girl by two men who subsequently left the victim to her own fate in a locked up room, that also in the National capital, we feel that there couldn’t be a more opportune time than now for UNSRVAW Rashida Manjoo to visit India.

So, as Rashida herself had observed when she embarked on her first ever official mission to the country, this should be a unique moment in the history to address the issue of violence against women by reflecting upon the existing laws, policies and practices as well as for identifying the shortcomings and challenges for furthering the course of women’s rights in India, and this should not be a tall order for a country which takes pride in calling itself ‘Bharat Mata’.

However, talking of different manifestations of violence against women in India, the visiting UNSRVAW, though, we assume, she may be well aware of the situation in Manipur, should not find any difficulty in distinguishing and understanding the basic nature of the violence being faced by women in Manipur and in other parts of the country.

Unlike in other parts where crimes against women and their sufferings are closely related to the age-old customs and traditions that have always pushed women to an unenviable position in the society; in Manipur and elsewhere in the Northeast region, it is this complex but nonetheless active armed conflict situation and prolonged imposition of a ‘draconian and racist legislation’ like Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1985 which contribute to the sufferings of our mothers and sisters more than anything else.

Would Rashida and her mentor UN Commission have any solution to this?

Or, would it just end up like media giving full coverage on the visit of some high profile UN representatives? Only time will tell.