Manipur Opposition leaders question why state is being ignored by PM Modi

Criticising the union government, leaders of ten Opposition parties wondered aloud why the strife-torn Manipur was being ignored by the Prime Minister. They said there was a feeling of dejection and hurt amongst the youth of the state.

A delegation of top Manipur leaders from Congress and other nine political parties have been camping in Delhi for a week in the hope of meeting the PM, but failed to get an appointment. The PM has now left for a tour to the United States.

Addressing a joint press conference at in New Delhi on Tuesday, former Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh underscored that Modi had not spared even ten minutes for them before leaving for his US visit. Even the MLAs and ministers from the BJP were not able to meet the Prime Minister.

“It was the failure of the Chief Minister N Biren Singh as he had admitted that it was an intelligence and administrative failure,” said Singh. He pointed out that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had visited Manipur after 26 days and stayed there only for three days. He left without resolving the issue.

The delegation included leaders from the Janata Dal (United), the Communist Party of India and the CPI (Marxist), Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, All India Forward Bloc, Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party, and Revolutionary Socialist Party. 

The leaders had earlier said that they had e-mailed to the Prime Minister’s office seeking an appointment on June 10 and hand-delivered their request on June 12, but did not get any response.

The memorandum underscored that more than 150 lives were lost, 1,000 injured, 5,000 houses have been burned down, and more than 60,000 have been displaced and were taking shelter in relief camps. Hundreds of churches and temples have also been burnt down.

“Both the BJP governments, in the Centre and the state, are to be held responsible for having failed to contain the ongoing violence in the state. The Union Government and State Government are ambiguous about invoking Article 355 of the Constitution on Manipur,” read the memorandum.

The silence of the Prime Minister over the ethnic violence which has claimed many lives and created havoc for thousands of citizens in Manipur sends a clear message of indifference to the people of Manipur, said the leaders.

Congress Nagaland in-charge Dr Ajoy Kumar said, “It was strange that Manoj Muntashir Shukla, known for his crass dialogues in the movie Adipurush could meet the PM without any appointment for 45 minutes. However, leaders from the violence-ridden state, including even those from the BJP were not able to get an audience with the PM.”

Last week, the Congress general secretary for communications Jairam Ramesh said that in 2001 when there was a blockade in Manipur, the government of the day, headed by BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee met an all-party delegation from the state within six days of the violence breaking out.

The Congress on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not speaking on the Manipur crisis in his Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast and asked when he will say or do something about the "unending violence" in the north-eastern state.

When violence had broken out on May 3, it seemed to be an inter-tribal agitation between the Meiteis (who are currently not recognised as a scheduled tribe) and mostly Kuki tribespeople. It originated after a Tribal Solidarity March called by the All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur (ATSUM) in the Torbung area of Churachandpur district. The march was organised to protest against the recent Meitei demand for inclusion in the scheduled tribe (ST) category.

The demand for including the Meitei community in the ST category has been a matter of contention in Manipur for a while. Proponents argue that it would provide necessary safeguards and opportunities to the Meitei community, while critics—including ATSUM—express concerns about the potential dilution of reservation benefits for the existing tribal groups, including the use of land.