Honourable President of India Droupadi Murmu may not have noticed that the history of India has become a gigantic caricature. In the Mahābhārata (one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa), the most disturbing incident was the disrobing of Princess Draupadi by the Kauravas in a crowded court of Kuru King Dhritarashtra. It was a completely insane and disgraceful act done on the part of Kauravas, the sons of King Dhritarashtra. Defaming a woman and insulting her physically has always been considered as the greatest crime worldwide. Today, Droupadi Murmu is the Constitutional Head of Independent Democratic India, where some miscreants paraded two Kuki women naked on May 4, 2023 in north-eastern Indian Province of Manipur!

The violent mob not only stripped and chased those two women in broad daylight, but also tortured them with all their might in order to celebrate the masculinity of their ethnicity, nation and political ideology. President Murmu is the Head of that Indian State, the Government of which has successfully suppressed the truth for 77 days! During this period of time, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US, France and the UAE, as if nothing happened in his country. Members of his Council of Ministers, too, remained silent.

President Droupadi Murmu may also be exposed to an existential crisis because of her name, gender identity, and marginalised social identity. As she is the first woman Indian President belonging to a tribal community, many believe that she carries India’s democratic glory and dignity. On the other hand, tribal women in Manipur are paying the price of their marginalised social identity by being paraded naked, harassed and raped. The horrific and nauseating video of the women walking naked, which surfaced on July 19 (over two and a half months after the incident took place on May 4, 2023), has portrayed the real scenario of Indian Democracy on the global platform. On August 15, 2023, India shall mark its 76th Independence Day, with the Prime Minister addressing the nation from the historic Red Fort in New Delhi. Just a month ahead of that event, the images of these two naked girls from Manipur have narrated the real story of India.

Although common people did not have much of an idea about the existence of this video, the administration certainly knew about it. Perhaps, that is why the Provincial Government of Manipur (run by Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party) decided to shut down the internet. Indeed, it was a wonderful attempt to hide the truth. The National Commission for Women (NCW), too, has admitted that it received a complaint in this regard a month ago. The very existence of the video suggests that the task of identifying the culprits and taking legal action against them was not at all a difficult issue. A senior NCW official, who wished to remain anonymous, has said that they asked the Provincial Government to send a report to the Commission. However, the NCW is yet to receive the report of this incident. The development simply shows that the Modi Administration was not interested in stopping the ethnic clash that erupted between the Meitei people, a majority who live in the Imphal Valley, and the tribal community from the surrounding hills, including the Kuki people, in the first week of May.

Prime Minister Modi, himself, is currently facing multiple questions. If he was not aware of the gravity of the incident, then he has failed to perform his duty (or Raj Dharma or the Role of a Ruler). And if he remained indifferent even after knowing everything, then he has lost the ability to lead the nation.

The Manipur incident is a fine example of how much distorted masculinity can still be displayed in the name of politics in a Democratic country, and how much it is possible for the society to safely return to normality even after experiencing such an incident.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das