DCW Chief Swati Maliwal Visits Violence Hit Manipur, Earlier Denied Permission To Meet Sexual Violence Survivors

On Sunday, a day after the state administration purportedly denied her request for permission to visit the troubled state of Manipur, the Chief of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Swati Maliwal, arrived.

She had earlier in the day stated that she would proceed with her intended trip to the northeastern state.

“Just landed in Manipur. I’ve sought time from CM N Biren Singh ji. I hope he accepts my request at the earliest,” Maliwal said on Twitter.

The Chief of DCW claimed on Saturday that the Manipur state administration of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied her permission from travelling there to meet with victims of sexual assault.

Maliwal said in a tweet on Sunday that she had written to N Biren Singh, the chief minister of Manipur, requesting an urgent meeting with him during her visit.

“Manipur Govt recommended I consider postponing my visit due to law and order situation. After deliberation on their suggestion, have decided to fly to Imphal as planned. Sought time from Manipur CM. Will meet him and request him to come along to visit the sexual assault survivors,” Maliwal tweeted.

She even tweeted the letter she wrote to the Manipur CM which said, “I seek an urgent meeting with your hon’ble self to discuss the extremely pertinent issue of the human rights violations and sexual assault cases occurring in Manipur. Several Manipuri women have come to Delhi in order to escape the ongoing violence in the state. I wish to discuss issues regarding their welfare as well with your hon’ble self.”

“I request you to kindly issue directions to the officers to facilitate my visit. As a fellow citizen of this country and the head of a statutory body protecting women and girls, I appeal to your hon’ble self to aid me in providing help and support to the sisters of Manipur. I assure you that I shall not be doing anything that creates a problem for your government during my visit to the state,” she said.

Delhi Commission for women Chief said that, regarding her visit to the state to speak with sexual assault survivors, she had written to Singh on July 20 and the head of the Manipur Police on July 21.

Maliwal said in the letter, “A letter dated 21.07.2023 was sent to DM, Imphal who forwarded the same to Joint Secretary (Home) with the request to provide necessary support to the undersigned (Maliwal) and her team. The DM also gave us the contact numbers of the Joint Secretary (Home) who confirmed to us that we can travel to Manipur and he shall provide the necessary support to us in visiting the relief camps. Subsequently, we planned our travel to Imphal. However, suddenly we received an email from the Joint Secretary (Home) requesting us to consider postponing our visit in view of the current law and order situation in Manipur.”

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