Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to travel to Manipur, a state wracked by ethnic violence, to console residents. “The Chief Minister should have visited the state long ago. He must visit Manipur.
I request him to come to Manipur and try to understand what is happening here. In Manipur, probably the entire people of the country want the Chief Minister. Minister to visit the state and listen to the miseries of the victims. The Congress is ready to support anything that would improve the situation, Rahul Gandhi said in the press conference after his visit.
Gandhi called the events in Manipur a “colossal tragedy” and said the Congress was ready to take all necessary steps to ensure peace in the state. More than 200 people have been killed in ethnic violence between the Kuki and Meitei clans in Manipur since May last year.
Rahul Gandhi in Manipur
Gandhi spent the day in Manipur, looking at various relief camps in the northeastern part of the state housing people displaced by ethnic conflict. “This is the third time I have come here since the problem started. It was a huge tragedy. I expected the situation to improve. But I was quite disappointed to see that the situation is not even close to what it should be, he said.
A few weeks after the outbreak of ethnic violence in Manipur on May 3 last year, Gandhi visited the region. He also started the state ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in January 2024. This is his first trip to Manipur as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha after the Congress won both the Lok Sabha seats in the state.
As the leader of the opposition, Gandhi claimed that he had come to the state to listen to the suffering of victims of violence, to instill confidence in them, and to pressure the government to act. “I want to tell all Manipuris that I have come here as your brother, someone who wants to help you, wants to work with you to restore peace in Manipur. I am ready to do anything, the Congress party is ready to do anything. , for restore peace here,” he said.
Gandhi said that he had never seen in any part of India what was happening in Manipur and that respect and devotion would provide a solution but violence and hatred would not. “The country is completely divided in two and it is a tragedy for everyone involved. The whole country is suffering. If we start thinking about peace and affection, it will be a very big step for Manipur,” the Congress leader said.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said that he and his party are available if the people of Manipur are willing. “The Indian government and all those who consider themselves patriots must accept the people of Manipur,” said the Congress leader, who also met Governor Anusuiya, before holding the press conference.
“We told the governor that we want to help in every way. We also expressed our dissatisfaction. We are not satisfied with the progress made here. I do not want to politicize this issue, that is not my intention.” Gandhi said in a press conference.
The Congress leader did not accept questions from the media, saying that he had explained his message. “I’m not prepared to take questions that are designed to turn the issue upside down,” he said.
