New Delhi: The Congress on Friday wondered why Prime Minister Narendra Modi can't be the peacemaker by visiting violence-hit Manipur when he is going "all over the world" trying to play that role.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also asserted that Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has "lost all credibility" and things cannot improve under him.
Ramesh's remarks came in response to Biren Singh's interview with PTI in which the chief minister has promised to fully restore peace in the state in six months with the Centre's help and also ruled out stepping down, saying he has neither committed a crime nor spawned a scandal.
In his remarks, Singh said, "PM coming or not coming has been made an issue by people. The PM may not have come but he has sent his home minister. And PM has so often spoken about Manipur, even from Lal Qila on Independence Day...and whatever is being done here in terms of security, funding etc, is under his leadership only. In a complex situation a PM coming was not necessary."
Reacting to the remarks, Ramesh told PTI, "The people of Manipur want the prime minister to come to the state and the prime minister has not gone. It is an extraordinary situation, he has gone all over the world but he has not found to go to Manipur even for a few hours. What the chief minister is saying about the PM is unacceptable, it is indefensible what he has done."
Ramesh said almost 16 months have gone by and there has been no peace, no harmony, no reconciliation, no semblance of normalcy in Manipur. "The Supreme Court actually called it a breakdown of constitutional machinery. So I don't know which world the chief minister is living in?" Ramesh said. He claimed that the chief minister has "lost all credibility".
There have been revelations and audio recordings of what the chief minister has said which needs to be investigated, Ramesh said. "I don't see on what strength the CM is claiming normalcy. This is absolutely contrary to the facts on the ground," he said. The Congress leader said 15 months after getting a huge majority in the assembly elections, the state began burning and "it was made to blow up".
"This is not accidental what has happened. The fact of the matter is that the prime minister has gone to Ukraine, the prime minister has gone to Russia, he has gone to Poland, he has gone all over the country, he has gone to other countries of the world but he has neither found the time nor the inclination to visit Manipur even for a few hours," Ramesh said.
"He is the PM of the country and Manipur is an exceedingly important and strategic state of our country and this is the way he deals with Manipur," he said. Ramesh said Modi has not met Singh and asked whether the chief minister can say that he has had a one-on-one meeting with the prime minister in New Delhi.
"Has the PM met the elected representatives of Manipur, he has not. The answer that the people of Manipur gave to all these bogus claims being made by the CM is the fact that in both Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur, the Congress has won and the BJP has lost (in the Lok Sabha polls) and they have lost by a good margin," he said.
"I think the prime minister must go to Manipur. That is the most important requirement. The prime minister must go and begin the process of sending the healing touch, the process of reconciliation," he said. Ramesh said it is not enough to speak for a few minutes in Parliament or outside and the prime minister must visit the state.
Modi has to show he means business, he has to reassure all communities of Manipur -- the Meiteis, the Kukis, the Nagas and all the tribal communities, he added. Modi has to show that the agony of Manipur is the agony of India, Ramesh said. "The non-biological PM is going all over the world trying to be the peacemaker, why can't he be the peacemaker by going to Manipur," he said.
He said that one consequence of the PM not being able to go to Manipur is that he is not being able to go to Mizoram. "He (Modi) had to go to Mizoram for an election rally which had to be cancelled because the BJP thought that this would invite negative comments because he would have gone to Mizoram and not to Manipur," the Congress leader claimed.
"The prime minister goes to Tripura, he goes to Assam but he has neither the time nor the inclination to go to Manipur. It is complete neglect on the part of the PM. I hold the PM singularly responsible," Ramesh said. "Ukraine is not complex? Russia is not complex? And the non-biological PM has found time to go there. Of course, the situation is complex but six autonomous district councils in Manipur, last time the elections for them were held in 2015. Why aren't elections being held for the ADCs in Manipur? Why is the CM constantly defensive?" he said.
Going forward, Ramesh said the Congress wants peace, reconciliation and harmony in the state. He urged the Centre and state governments to talk to all sections of society and bring them together. "I don't think with the present CM, things are going to improve... It is going to be a long drawn-out process," he said. Ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities has claimed more than 200 lives in Manipur since May last year.
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