A look at the top developments from violence-hit Manipur:

  1. The United States is “shocked and horrified” at last week’s video of Kuki women in Manipur being stripped and paraded naked, a senior Washington official said on Tuesday. Vedant Patel, the deputy spokesperson of the State Department, told reporters at a press conference: “We convey our profound sympathies to the survivors of this act of gender-based violence and support the Indian government’s efforts to seek justice for them.” On July 23 as well, the State Department had said that it was deeply concerned about the sexual assault.
  2. A group of miscreants allegedly set ablaze several abandoned homes in the Moreh district on Wednesday, PTI reported. The homes were located in the Moreh Bazar area near the Myanmar border. They belonged to the Meitei community who had left the area after the violence broke out, according to The New Indian Express.
  3. Hours before the incident in Moreh, a mob in the Kangpokpi district allegedly set on fire two buses that were being used by security forces to transport personnel. The arson took place on Tuesday evening in the Sapormeina area, when the buses were going from Dimapur. No fatalities were reported.
  4. The women’s wing of armed Naga group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) on Tuesday said it had been “left aghast and terrified” at the incident of women being paraded naked and assaulted in Manipur, The Indian Express reported. This was the first time that the group has spoken about the violence in the state. Hosheli Achumi, the chairperson of the National Socialist Women’s Organisation of Nagalim, said that the group was shocked at “the nightmarish situation in Manipur where there are threats to women’s rights, particularly their livelihoods and dignity”. She added that the violence in Manipur “finds no parallel” in the history of the state.
  5. The police have arrested seven persons till now in the sexual assault case that triggered nationwide outrage last week. The assault had taken place on May 4, and the police had filed a first information report on May 18. However, the first arrests were made only last week after the video was widely shared on social media.
  6. On Wednesday morning, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla accepted a no-confidence motion moved by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi over the crisis in Manipur. Gogoi told reporters the Opposition alliance was aware that it did not have the numbers to get the no-confidence motion passed. However, he said: “This is about Manipur’s fight for justice.” Opposition leaders on Wednesday continued to hold protests in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha demanding that Prime Minister Narendra should speak in Parliament about the situation in Manipur. 
  7. A group of Rajya Sabha MPs met Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar requesting for a short-duration discussion on Manipur. “They urged members across all party lines to participate in the discussion and give constructive suggestions for tackling the situation in Manipur, which will boost the confidence of people in the state,” the vice president’s office said.