Protesters in Atlanta, US, regret 'utter silence' of Govt of India on Manipur violence

By A Representative

A US senator, who joined Indian Americans and allies at a protest and vigil, has demanded an immediate halt to the ongoing violence gripping India's northeastern state of Manipur, which has left over 150 dead and 50,000 displaced.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, or Hindu,” said Georgia senator Sheikh Rahman, addressing the protesters gathered outside the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. “It is very important that we stand up for minority issues… [when] minorities are suffering all around the world.”
Participants said, the brunt of the violence in Manipur has impacted the predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo tribal community, leading to the destruction of thousands of Kuki-owned homes and hundreds of churches. Over the past few months, the Kuki-Zo have been the victims of extreme brutality, including sexual violence. Several of these crimes have been filmed and circulated on social media.
Protesters carried placards with slogans such as “Bring Rapists to Justice” and “Women’s Bodies Are Not Battlefields,” referencing a viral video that showed the horrifying assault of two Kuki-Zo women, who were stripped, paraded naked, groped by a mob of men and then gang-raped.
“Even as we speak, the state-sponsored ethnic cleansing is still ongoing… and it is just the beginning,” said Khai Samte, representing NAMTA. “Let this be our first step towards fighting for justice for minorities like us, and for everybody everywhere [in India].”
“There is utter silence on Manipur [from the Indian government], which is actually provoking more violence,” said Sandeep Chavan, representing the AANA. “We Ambedkarites all over the world stand for the Kuki-Zo, Muslims in Haryana, and everyone who is facing injustice.”

“The ongoing violence in Manipur is not just a concern for the Kuki-Zo or the Christian community, but for everyone who believe in the basic human right to live without the fear of being gang-raped, murdered, and driven out of one’s home,” said Naushad Ghilzai, president of the IAMC Atlanta chapter. “We call upon the US government to take a strong stance against this violence and urge the Modi regime to restore peace in the state.”
“Both the central and state governments have failed to take any accountability or responsibility for communal violence throughout the country,” said Romita Verma, representing the advocacy group Hindus for Human Rights. “We strongly condemn the continuing acts of violence against minorities in Manipur, Haryana, and everywhere else in India.”

The vigil was co-organized by the North American Manipur Tribal Association (NAMTA), the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), the Ambedkar International Center, Ambedkar Association of North America (AANA), Hindus for Human Rights, and members of the Sikh community.

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Subject to geological upheaval, the time to listen to the Himalayas has already passed

By Rajkumar Sinha* The people of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, who have somehow survived the onslaught of reckless development so far, are crying out in despair that within the next ten to fifteen years their very existence will vanish. If one carefully follows the news coming from these two Himalayan states these days, this painful cry does not appear exaggerated. How did these prosperous and peaceful states reach such a tragic condition? What feats of our policymakers and politicians pushed these states to the brink of destruction?

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By A Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Counterview

Search This Blog