Lok Sabah Speaker Om Birla has called for peace in Manipur, saying the incidents the state witnessed since the outbreak of violence on May 3 are “extremely painful”.
“Such incidents are extremely painful for us as a society and as human beings. Our behaviour should not cause any kind of pain to her, should not hurt her dignity and it should be our endeavour and it is our moral duty as an individual, and as a society to ensure the same,” he said in an apparent reference to the viral video of sexual assault on two women in Manipur.
Addressing a conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) here today, he said, “Peace is the path to development. I appeal for peace in the Northeast.”
He also said that in the process of development, people should not deviate from path of human values and ethics and it is the collective responsibility of all to protect tradition, heritage and culture.
Manipur has been engulfed in ethnic violence since May 3 which has claimed more than 160 lives so far.
