GUWAHATI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his long silence on the Manipur situation on Wednesday, July 1, accusing the Opposition of politicising the issue and asserting that the government has been working to restore normalcy in the state.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, the prime minister said violence has been declining and schools have re-opened in most parts of the state.
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Trying to turn the tables on the Congress, he said the state had seen President's rule 10 times in the past. "Those who are raking the issue had abandoned it. One day, Manipur will reject you," Modi said.
"Those who know the history of Manipur, they know there's a long history of social conflict in Manipur. No one can deny that the root of this social conflict is very deep. Congress people should not forget, President's rule had to be imposed 10 times in such a small state. There must have been a reason. It didn't happen under our government," Modi said, alluding to the long rule of the Congress in Manipur.
On Tuesday, as he rose to speak in the Lok Sabha, he was greeted with protests for his silence on Manipur. There were chants of "Manipur, Manipur" and "Justice for Manipur", accompanied by loud thumping of the table.
On Monday, the Congress's Inner Manipur MP Bimol Akoijam delivered a powerful speech during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address expressing his anguish that it had made no mention of the over a year long ethnic violence in Manipur. Over 200 people have been killed and thousands have been rendered homeless in the turmoil.
“I will keep quiet the moment the prime minister opens his mouth and the nationalist party says Manipur is part of India, and we care for the people of that state,” said Akoijam, the last speaker of the day, nearing midnight.
“I am drawing your attention to the absence of Manipur in the President’s address,” Akoijam said addressing the TDP MP Krishna Kumar Tenneti, who was in the chair, but few other MPs present.
“This is not a simple absence. It’s a reminder of a rashtra-chetana [national consciousness] which excludes people,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi in his speech had criticised the prime minister for his silence on Manipur.
“You have immersed Manipur in a civil war… For the prime minister, there is no state of Manipur,” Rahul said amid pin drop silence from the Treasury benches.
Hours later, Akoijam, too, questioned the silence of the BJP and Modi on Manipur.
