“Suddenly Denied Permission” To Visit Manipur, Claims Delhi Women’s Panel Chief

Swati Maliwal was scheduled to be in the state till July 30.

New Delhi:

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal alleged on Saturday that the Manipur government has denied her permission to visit the state to interact with survivors of sexual violence.

Ms Maliwal was supposed to visit the northeastern state, hit by ethnic violence, on July 23.

On Friday, she wrote to the director general of police (DGP) of Manipur on her plans to visit the strife-torn state following the surfacing of a video that showed two women being paraded naked by members of a rival community.

After telling me I can come to Manipur, 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗨 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲. This is shocking and absurd. Why can’t I meet survivors of sexual violence? I have already booked my tickets after… pic.twitter.com/HU40Go8Fxo

— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) July 22, 2023

Ms Maliwal had on Thursday written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi too, urging him to take steps in the matter.

In her letter to the Manipur DGP, she said she plans to visit the state on July 23 to assess the situation there and submit a fact-finding report.

“After telling me I can come to Manipur, Government has taken a U-turn and suddenly denied permission to me. This is shocking and absurd. Why can’t I meet survivors of sexual violence? I have already booked my tickets after discussing with them. Why try and stop me?” she said in a tweet, tagging Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and the state police.

Ms Maliwal was scheduled to be in the state till July 30.

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