Manipur agriculture minister sexually harassed delegate at World Youth Summit, alleges youth activist

Kangujam alleged that the minister Abdul Nasir had asked two women delegates to his room in a hotel where they had put up, promising them money.

A youth leader from Manipur, Kangujam Kanarjit has made allegations against Manipur Agriculture and Fisheries Minister saying the minister has sexually harassed two women delegates at a recently held World Youth Summit 2015, which took place in the capital city of Imphal between March 31st to April 2 earlier this year.

26-year-old Kangujam was the main organizer behind the event in which 57 delegates from various South Asian countries as well as other states of the country participated. Kangujam was responsible for organizing a similar event, the Global Youth Meet 2014 last year in Imphal. Kangujam on Sunday alleged that the Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Abdul Nasir had asked two women delegates to his room in a hotel where they had put up, promising them money. He said that on March 31st, the concluding day of the summit, a 19-year-old delegate from Nepal “was lured by Nasir onto the verandah of the hotel”. She later complained to the head of her team who then in turn complained to Kangujam. A nine-member team from Nepal participated in the event.

Kangujam has also alleged that the minister further sent obscene text messages to another female delegate from Uttar Pradesh. Kangujam added that he brought the matter up with the Agriculture minister who pleaded with him to not make the matter public. The minister then agreed to pay the Rs 3.58 lakh hotel bill for the housing of the delegates. The hotel bill was to be paid by the organizer of the youth summit, that is Kangujam himself. “The Minister paid the hotel bill without our consent,’’ said Kangujam talking to The Indian Express.

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“The entire incident with the minister happened right in front of our eyes. It was around 11.37 pm and we had just finished dinner at the Manipur Convention Center, the venue of the event, and had come back to the hotel. The minister was at the hotel too, I don’t really know why since his house is very close to the Convention Centre. He asked the girl for her number which she refused to give. Then he asked her for her account number to transfer money and invited her to a room he had booked at the hotel. She left and ran up to her floor crying,” he said adding,”It was really embarrassing for us. One of our sessions was on crime against women.’’

He said that when he brought up the matter with the minister the next morning, he said he had no dishonourable intentions and threatened to kill himself. “Then he came to the hotel and offered to pay our remaining bill to the hotel staff without our consent. I didn’t want money from him. But his wife came later and gave Rs 2 lakhs of the bill,’’says Kangujam.”But its not unusual for ministers and politicians to help us financially,” he adds.

Kangujam’s statement about the minister’s sexual harassment comes to light after an article carried by the Imphal Free Press alleged financial discrepancies in the conduct of the youth summit.

Kangujam says he is an activist and runs an NGO called Club 25 that deals in blood donations. He said that the youth summit was for delegates aged between 16-25 years.

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When contacted Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Abdul Nasir said, “This is a completely baseless charge and is completely false and this guy is leveling these accusations against me because he finds allegations of financial irregularities leveled against him.’’ But when asked why he had paid the hotel bill, the minister hung up the phone.

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