Monday, September 24, 2007

‘Girl child rights violation exist in Manipuri society’

By : A Staff Reporter 9/24/2007 1:13:34 AM

IMPHAL, Sep 23: The chairperson of the Manipur State Women Commission said that violation of the rights of girl child and violence against girl child do exist in the Manipuri society but it is very subtle and often go unnoticed.

The chairperson Dr Ch Jamini further said, “There are many girls with talents and potentials, however only a few get the opportunity to develop these to the fullest. Today we have many women becoming astronauts, doctors and sportsperson etc, yet a woman is still surrounded by many hurdles.” Dr Jamini observed that in spite of development and achievements, the suppression of women is still continuing.

The chairperson opined that the intrusion of technology, specially information technology, into private lives is responsible for making the girl child more vulnerable. She said that with none to monitor the programmes being aired by private channels and accessed through Internet, the moral behaviour of the young people are adversely affected.

She said, “Trafficking of girl child is a reality. Though trafficking in Manipur is a hush-hush issue, it does exist.” The chairperson said that in spite of having many government schemes for the girl child, it is still not clear as to how many are actually getting the benefits. She observed that parents are responsible for the inability of girls in the hills and remote areas to access their rights.

Dr Jamini was addressing the inaugural function of the one day state level seminar on ‘girl child friendly society in Manipur’ as the chief guest today at State Guest House. The seminar was being jointly organized by Kasturba Gandhi Kendra, Imphal and Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti, New Delhi.

The guest of honour, Prof Ksh Bimola, head of the Political Science department Manipur University, said that the violation of a girl child’s rights begin before her birth due to the practice of female foeticide. Giving the example of property inheritance where women still do not enjoy equal right as men, Prof Bimola said that though difference in the treatment meted out to the girl and boy child is not so evident, it become more obvious at later stages.

The other guest of honour advocate Khaidem Mani, human rights activist also agreed that violation of the rights of a girl child is not so prominent in Manipur as compared to other states, yet it exist.

Terming insurgency as the ‘mother of all problems in Manipur’, Mani said that whether it is human, women or girl child’s rights, nothing will be solved without solving the insurgency problem through political dialogue.

He said that the most important question to be asked in an armed conflict situation is how much the rights of the children are protected. Mani stressed the importance of implementing the Geneva Convention Common Article III in armed conflict to protect the rights of children.

In the technical session, moderated by Prof Ksh Bimola and Khaidem Mani, three papers were presented. Advocate Ch Narendra; state social welfare advisory board’s chairperson RK Bedita; and social worker Jaya Thiyam, who presented a paper written by Anne Mangsatabam, were the resource persons.
========================================


Fear haunts Charhajari, children refrain from school
By : Thingbaijam Dhamen/IFP 9/24/2007 1:16:01 AM

IMPHAL, Sept 23: Nepali residents in the trouble-torn Charhajari area are still on the edge after the spate of attacks on houses and properties by miscreants and firing related with the boycott of panchayat elections by a civil body in the scheduled area of the state.

The casting of vote by a woman named Rita was also apparently behind the targeting of a structure of Kashina Vetwal, the father of the woman yesterday by armed miscreants.

“Rita violated the boycott called by the Kuki body and cast her vote even though she was warned of dire consequencies,” a resident of Charhajari who did not want to be named told this reporter.

Recounting the repoll day incident, locals said that two women suspected to be boycott supporters followed her but what the two women said to Rita could not be ascertained. However, before reaching the polling station, she was at a house for some time and watched the situation.

Later, when Rita entered the polling station, the two women left the spot quietly. She also cast her vote and came back home later. Later, the arson at the cowshed belonging to her father by armed miscreants took place.

Rita, a divorcee, has been living with her father Kashina Vetwal at his house at Upper Charhajari after separating from her husband some years back.

“It was the talk of the area today that the armed miscreants first attempted to set on fire the house of Rita but the mud house with GI-sheet roof did not catch fire and the miscreants burnt the cowshed with a thatched roof instead,” said a local resident.

Since the outbreak of violence in the area, Nepali children have stopped attending school. Some are thinking of leaving the place as possibility of further attacks on the minority Nepali community is still palpable.

Mention may be made that in the escalating violence in the Nepali dominated Kanglatongbi area bordering Imphal west and Senapati district, and amidst round the clock vigil being kept by the security forces, armed miscreants set ablaze a cowshed of a Nepali resident late yesterday evening at around 6.40 pm at Upper Charhajari.

The miscreants armed with weapons also fired several rounds of gunshot before leaving the place when IRB personnel detailed there rushed to the spot to control the fire.

Currently, IRB men are detailed at the house of a pradhan candidate and at a LB Junior High School. They are deployed there as temporary security arrangement considering the tense situation in the area.

Meanwhile, Nepali children have stopped attending school since the day of the panchayat poll conducted amidst violence in the Charhazari area.

According to some school teachers who were contacted by this correspondent, Nepali children were absent from the mid-session test conducted by the respective schools.

After the polling on September 19 was suspended midway after violent incidents, repolls were held at four polling stations in the Charhajari area on Friday (Sept 21), together with 45 other places, amidst massive security arrangements under the personal supervision of an IGP of the state police.

But out of a total of over 2000 voters, only 43 were willing to take the risk of coming out and exercising their franchise at the four polling stations. Only 12 voters of a total of 516 exercised their franchise at polling station no. 10/25/4 at CL Memorial High School, Upper Charhajare and only 31 out of 586 voters voted at polling station no. 10/25/2 at Golden English Junior High School.

It is worth mentioning that, in poll related violence in the Chahajari area, at least two houses, four shops, two four wheeler vehicles, a motorcycle and a saw mill have been destroyed allegedly by the activists of SHDDC. A house along with a four wheeler and saw mill belonged to a pradhan candidate, Kadernath Sharma contesting in Kanglatongbi gram panchayat constituency, according to police reports.

Police said the situation in the area was under control. At the same time, they also admitted that tension was running high.
Mention may be made that the tension in Charhajare area located within the Lamsang block of Imphal west is high since the issue of notification for elections to the panchayats spreading across four valley districts of the state.

As no candidates filed nominations till the last date of nomination, three seats of members of gram panchayat under the Kanglatongbi gram panchayat are lying vacant. Some candidates who submitted nomination papers also withdrew on the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers.

The violence erupted in the area after candidates of Kanglatongbi gram panchayat failed to withdraw their candidatures in spite of threats posed to them.

Interestingly, the polling for six seats of member of gram panchayat under Sugnu gram panchayat went off peacefully even as the areas included in the six wards are claimed to be within the schedule area.


The Imphal Free Press

No comments:

Post a Comment