Arunachalees Protest Against Hathras Gangrape

A sit-in protest was organised by Arunachal citizens at IG Park on Sunday condemning the gangrape incident of Hathras in Uttar Pradesh.

Youths and senior citizens took part in the protest demanding justice for the deceased victim Manisha Valmiki.

"If we want to see India grow in the 21st century at the world level, we need to end Hindu casteism. We need to stop atrocities and deprivation against Dalits and minorities," said renowned social activist Jarjum Ete to Arunachal Times, who also took part in the protest.

Ete claimed that numerous cases of sexual violation have been reported from schools in Arunachal but they never come to the authority's notice, the Arunachal Times report said.

"There have been innumerable sexual violations and violence against children in the schools. Many parents are actually silenced by the school management, the local community and the district administration," said Ete, and urged the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights to mobilize support for children's rights in the state.

She asked the youth to raise their voice against "casteist violence, sexual exploitation of children, domestic violence, and gender violence."

Meanwhile, researcher, writer, and activist Ngurang Reena said, "The use of rape as a tool of oppression and control in caste-race atrocities is pervasive. Upper caste men violate women's bodies to 'teach them a lesson'. This constant sexualization of women's bodies, especially (of women) from the marginalized communities, such as Dalits, tribals, Adivasis and other religious minorities, is a reality and needs to be condemned."

"Association of women's bodies with war and violence is an old phenomenon and the recent sexual assault and death of the Dalit woman in UP's Hathras is a reminder of the state of women's position in our society," Reena said.

"Women continue to exist as a secondary gender in today's India, and our social identities determine our political rights. I call out the prevalent sexual violence; I am calling out caste-based violence; I am calling out patriarchy that celebrates violence. And women's rights are dismal in Arunachal Pradesh, as well. Gender-based violence and sexual violence on women here needs to be called out, as well," Reena added.

She also called out the state's police department over its "incompetence" in probing the mysterious death of her father, Ngurang Pinch, in 2017.