A 2.17-minute clip is viral on social media with the claim that the Meitei woman featured in the video is questioning the Opposition MPs’ inaction over Manipur. It is claimed that the woman speaking in the video is slamming them for bringing up the matter of the ongoing unrest in Manipur only after the video of two Kuki women being paraded naked and molested had gone viral. The woman can also be seen bringing up the matter of the 80-year-old Meitei woman who was burned to death in her house. The opposition MPs visited Manipur last week to assess the situation in the violence-stricken state.
Twitter Blue user BhikuMhatre (@MumbaichaDon) shared the video on August 1 with the above claim. The tweet has received over 2 lakh 96,000 views and has been retweeted over 4,000 times. (Archive)
Hats off to this brave #Meitei Sister who ripped apart Opposition MPs’ Picnic in #Manipur
🔸Why did you come here without speaking in #Parliament?
🔸Why did’t you raise your voice for burning a Meitei woman to death at her home by Kukis?
🔸 Meiteis women here, are r@ ped &… pic.twitter.com/pICjWszsuh— BhikuMhatre (@MumbaichaDon) August 1, 2023
Right Wing influencer Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) shared the video and stated that the Manipur woman had given ‘a piece of her mind’ to the MPs who were indulging in ‘vulture tourism’. His tweet was retweeted over 3,800 times. (Archive)
Listen to this Manipuri woman who is giving a piece of her mind to Opposition MPs who went there for vulture tourism
— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) August 1, 2023
BJP state general secretary for Tripura Amit Rakshit 🇮🇳 (@amitrakshitbjp) also tweeted the clip with the same caption. (Archive)
Other users such as @RajeswariAiyer, @Indumakalktchi, @ashok777_kalam, @p_nikumar and @OsintUpdates also shared the same clip with a similar claim. Several of them claim that the woman told the MPs that the Modiji/the Modi government was doing everything for them.
Fact Check
A Google search with relevant keywords led us to a tweet by India Today that carried a longer version of the viral clip. The viral part begins at the 3:07 mark of the video shared by India Today.
#Manipur continues to be on edge; A Meitei woman narrates her ordeal in front of the opposition MPs. This is what she has to say #ManipurViolence #INDIA #Meitei #ReporterDiary (@JournoAshutosh) pic.twitter.com/e77ovDnVMu
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) July 31, 2023
In the video, the woman is speaking to Opposition MPs including DMK’s Kanimozhi, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, TMC’s Sushmita Dev.
Here is a transcription of what the woman says:
“Due to the actions taken by the state government, like the implementation of NRC and illegal immigrants to be defected since they were staying in reserved forest areas… More than 15,400 acres of land in Manipur were used for poppy plantations with this the Kuki militants are strongly against Meitei. But why? Why the Meitei? What is our fault here? Why not ask the government? Why not stand against the government? But why burn our houses and destroy our future? We are youth. We (the Meitei community) have been staying in these houses with emotions for more than 80,000 years. Churachandpur was taken from the king, Maharaja Churachand during the reign of 1891 to 1941. Churachandpur got its name from Churachand Maharaj. The majority in Churachandpur were Meiteis but so far during our stay here we have never tried to carry out such violence against them. But now all of a sudden due to the illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Burmese they are uniting together and making us homeless. We have been residing there for more than a thousand years during our forefathers and our ancestors. Now, it’s like we don’t belong here.”
At this point, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury intervenes. Then, the woman continues, breaking down:
“We are witnessing the burning of our houses, we are so helpless. No state force was there to protect us, we could’ve been dead.”
Here, TMC MP Sushmita Dev asks the woman about the role of the police. The woman continues:
“(The role of the police) is to protect the citizens but they were like run for your lives we are not coming to save you, we are scared. No effective actions were taken by the government, by the central government. Why not take this issue up in the Parliament earlier? But why bring it up only after the viral video? Why? And with the concern of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, why did you bring up that viral video only…. while prior to that an old woman, who was a wife of a freedom fighter, from Sero was burned alive in her home. Why not bring up that issue? If they are totally against crimes against women, why not bring up that? Not just that, on the 4th of May and 5th of May, most of the victims and villagers are stuck in Churachandpur. There are rape victims, Meitei women were being raped. Why didn’t we stand up? We are scared for our future because we are women we want to save our future…. If you want the evidence, carry out medical tests on each and every woman…. Have the Meitei ever started burning the houses of the Kukis? Have we ever attacked them? They were the first ones to burn our houses, to destroy our futures. We stayed there with hope, building our future. Our parents took care of us and sent us to schools hoping that we’ll become officers, we’ll take care of the family someday. To run a family is not an easy thing. They have been building that up for more than 50 years, and everything was destroyed. If they are still asking for the evidence that the Meitei burned the houses of the Kukis why not use the satellite? They can prove everything.. why not use it? Why is the government still not effective, even after 89 days?
So, at the 3:05-mark in the video, the woman can be heard saying that no effective and timely action was taken by the central government. She asks PM Modi why the issue of Manipur violence was taken up only after the video had gone viral.
Therefore, the claim that the Meitei woman slammed the Opposition MPs is false. In the video, she, in fact, asks the Modi government why it did not take timely action. She names the Prime Minister and asks why he brought up the issue only after the viral video came to the fore. She clearly says no effective actions were taken by the central government. The claim that she told the MPs the Modi government was doing everything for us or something on these lines is also not true.
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