Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 24: The union home minister Amit Shah refused to commit an all-party delegation to strife-torn Manipur on Saturday and claimed that all steps were being taken “at the instruction of the prime minister Narendra Modi” to restore peace in the north-eastern state.
Addressing an all-party meeting in Delhi convened by Shah to discuss the Manipur situation, the union home minister refuted the opposition charge of Modi keeping silence over Manipur trouble and insisted that every step was being taken only at the instance of the prime minister.
The Congress called the all-party meeting “just an eye-wash and only a formality” pointing out that its representative at the meeting, the former three-time chief minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh, was not even given adequate time to present his viewpoints about the evolving situation and possible solutions to the disturbances.
Briefing media persons after the meeting, the BJP spokesman Sambit Patra, who is in-charge of Manipur, said Shah told the meeting that since the violence began in the State on May 3, there had “not been a single day” when he did not speak to Prime Minister Modi on the situation or the prime minister did not give instructions.
The Opposition parties have been critical of the Centre’s handling of the Manipur situation and have questioned the Prime Minister’s “silence” on the issue. Nearly 120 people lost their lives and over 3,000 have been injured since the ethnic violence broke out in the state.
While the Congress demanded that the chief minister N Biren Singh, who belongs to the BJP, should be removed, Samajwadi Party and several other opposition parties demanded imposition of the President’s Rule in Manipur. But Shah apparently was unwilling to sack his party CM.
The Congress alleged that Okram Ibobi Singh, who was the only one from Manipur present at the all-party meet, was not given enough time to present his points representing the “pain and anguish of the people of Manipur.”
“More than 50 days after the violence in Manipur started, the home ministry organised an all-party meeting today. I was nominated by the AICC. I barely had 7-8 minutes to share my views. Manipur is my home state. I asked for additional five minutes to express my opinions, but it was denied. This is unfortunate,” Singh, a three-time Manipur chief minister, said.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the meeting was “just an eye-wash and a formality.” “As the principal Opposition party, our representative the senior most leader from Manipur, 3-time elected CM Okram Ibobi Singh, was not allowed to present his points representing the pain and anguish of the people of Manipur,” Ramesh tweeted.
“He was the only leader from Manipur in the all-party meeting today, and it is an insult not only to the former CM and the Congress party, but the people of Manipur, that their representative was not allowed to fully put forth his point of view,” he added.
He also shared the eight points on behalf of the Congress, which includes the immediate removal of the chief minister of Manipur, “without which no progress can (be) made towards peace and normalcy in Manipur”.
The Samajwadi Party and a few others sought imposition of the President’s rule in the state but the government asserted it was doing its best to bring back normalcy there, sources said.
Leaders of various political parties, including the BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, AIADMK, Aam Aadmi Party and the Left, attended the meeting which was convened by the home minister to discuss the prevailing situation in the state.
