Mamata Banerjee on Thursday floated the idea of a peacemaking visit to the strife-torn Manipur by a group of chief ministers and said the purported incident of two women being paraded naked and harassed physically by men in the northeastern state was shameful and disgraceful.

A video that was circulated widely on social media showed the alleged harassment of the two disrobed women on May 4. The women are said to be from the Kuki community and one of them was gang-raped.

In a brief interaction with journalists outside Victoria House here in the evening, Mamata said she would speak to other leaders of INDIA (the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) to explore the possibility of a visit by chief ministers, presumably of non-BJP parties.

“Our alliance partners are talking to each other. If we get an opportunity, some of the chief ministers would want to go to Manipur. We will talk among ourselves and see if the other parties agree to the proposal…. If we, some chief ministers from INDIA, can go and meet the people, that would be very nice,” the Bengal chief minister said after inspecting preparations for the Trinamul Congress's annual Martyrs’ Day event on Friday, July 21.

“Our alliance, INDIA, is fighting this battle against these atrocities on women, Dalits, minorities, Scheduled Castes, OBCs, and strives to make our country inclusive. INDIA stands for Manipur, INDIA stands for peace and unity,” she added.

Referring to the video of the two women being paraded naked in Manipur, Mamata said: “It is shameful. It is disgraceful, what we have witnessed today.”

“I wonder what sort of a country we have become. Ours is a country that respects womenfolk… and yet today, my heart burns, my heart cries,” she added.

While INDIA — the alliance of 26 anti-BJP parties with Mamata being a principal figure — and its perceived battle to save the idea of India in the next general election are likely to feature prominently in her address at the event on Friday, the statement on Thursday made it clear that the Manipur issue, too, would occupy the centre stage.

Asked to respond to Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally issuing a public statement on Manipur, Mamata said: “He didn’t say anything about the Manipur violence.”

“Instead, he was busy equating the tragedy in Manipur with Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. However, despite his attempts to draw these parallels, the fact remains that he has actually broken the country.”