Left, Right & Centre

21 MPs of the opposition alliance INDIA are in Manipur even as they have moved a no-confidence motion against the government in the Lok Sabha. The members of the team visited Churachandpur, which has been the epicentre of the violence. Meanwhile, Manipur governor Anasuya Uike also went and met some victims in relief camps today in Churachandpur. The political outreach has only just started, the investigations into cases of violence and assault too are only now picking pace. The CBI has taken over the investigation in a case of sexual assault on two women by a mob in Manipur on May 4, a video clip of which went viral on social media platforms earlier this month. That brings us to a crucial question can a CBI probe reassure Manipur?

Ninety-eight students died by suicide in the past five years in higher education institutions, including central universities, IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISERs, according to the Union Ministry of Education. Nearly 50% of students who die by suicides are ST/SC/OBCs.

A new pathbreaking report by the University of Leipzig says that July is the hottest month ever recorded in the world, perhaps the hottest month in 120,000 years with an average temperature about 1.5 degrees hotter than the planet was before it was warmed by burning coal, oil and gas, and other human activities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched his sharpest attack yet on the new opposition front named INDIA even as parliament proceedings remained more or less stalled for yet another day over the issue of Manipur. The opposition continued to stick to its demand that the PM speak on Manipur in parliament while the BJP insisted it was all for a debate on the issue but not on terms set by the Opposition. It is now a fight between the BJP and the Opposition on whose idea of 'India' will win.

As political leaders across party lines slug it out with one another on Manipur, the larger picture is being lost and that larger picture has to do with the ground situation. No apparent solution and continued hostility between the two communities, the Meiteis and Kukis. We speak to some excellent minds, people closely monitoring the situation in the state and discuss what is the road to peace?

 

It's one of India's worst-kept secrets - the disastrous statistics on lost children - children who leave, are sold, are trafficked, kidnapped or even murdered. In the last five years, a whopping 2,75,125 children went missing and 77 per cent of them were girls. In the same time period, as many as 2,40,502 children were found. These are numbers released in parliament by the government. Policemen and women who have been involved in the successful rescue of children and also experts who continue to work on tackling this massive problem join NDTV for this key discussion.

A seven-year-old girl was killed in west Delhi's Paschim Vihar last week after her throat was slit by banned Chinese kite strings. In another incident, a man was injured after the string slashed his throat while he was on his scooter with his son. Even though the Chinese 'manjha' was banned by the National Green Tribunal in 2017, it is still widely sold. How is the killer 'manjha' freely available?

The horrific incident of two women being paraded naked and allegedly gang-raped in Manipur sent shock waves across the country. The incident has also prompted extreme political reactions from all quarters as well. Two similar incidents from Bengal have been brought to light by the BJP. In Bengal's Malda, where two tribal women were allegedly stripped naked and paraded and a similar incident of assault on a woman, reportedly a BJP candidate, in Howrah has also surfaced, where the BJP alleges the woman was stripped and physically assaulted. While these alleged crimes must be condemned with equal vigour, these incidents should not divert attention from the horror of Manipur and fixing accountability there. On Left, Right and Centre tonight, we ask, "Can we expect more humane and reasoned responses to rape from our leaders? Why politicise rape?

The emergence of a horrific video of women in Manipur being paraded naked has brought the focus back on the state which is descending into a spiral and a long-term solution is not in sight.  Our goal, on LRC is to try and look for solutions, political and security.

While talking about the horrific Manipur assault, senior BJP leader and advocate Nalin Kohli says that as humans everyone should condemn the asasult. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken about the horrific incident, while Sonia Gandhi is yet to address the rape of a Dalit girl in Congress-ruled Rajasthan. "When the PM spoke about it and the government showed its willingness to have a discussion, it is equally incumbent that the Congress and other opposition parties will have to explain why they prevented the discussion on technical aspect. It is important to highlight that the Congress and then the Trinamool Congress will have to answer for crimes against women in the states that they rule. For us, every crime is a crime. A crime in Manipur is a matter of concern for the Congress or the Trinamool Congress, but the rape of a Dalit child in Rajasthan's Jodhpur is one to prefer silence on by the Opposition. Is there a statement by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee? They are all senior political leaders," Mr Kohli said.