Any effort for peace must take place in Manipur: Cong on all-party meet called by Shah

Clashes first broke out in Manipur on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday termed the all-party meeting convened by Home Minister Amit Shah on the Manipur situation as "too little, too late," and said efforts to bring warring factions to the discussion table will lack seriousness if they are done sitting in Delhi.

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the entire nation expects a serious intervention from the Union Government. "Any effort for peace must take place in Manipur, where the warring communities are brought on the discussion table and a political solution is arrived at. This effort will lack seriousness if it is done sitting in Delhi," he said on Twitter.

After 50 days of death and destruction in Manipur, he said, "Home Minister Amit Shah's call for an all-party meeting is too little, too late". The government only woke up after Sonia Gandhi's address to the people of Manipur, he said. Shah has called an all-party meeting on the situation in Manipur on June 24.

"At the outset, the PM's absence from such a serious meeting shows his 'cowardice' and 'unwillingness' to confront his failures. Even when multiple delegations sought meetings with him, he had no time for them," the Congress leader alleged.

Noting that the Home Minister himself has presided over this situation and made no progress, he said in fact things have "worsened" since his visit. "Can we expect genuine peace under his stewardship," he asked. "Moreover, the continuation of the partisan state government and non-implementation of President's Rule is a travesty," Venugopal charged.

The Congress has been seeking the Centre's immediate intervention in bringing peace to the northeastern state which has been struck by violence since May 3. The party has also blamed the alleged divisive politics of the BJP for the current situation in Manipur.

Violent clashes broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. So far, nearly 120 people have lost their lives and over 3,000 have been injured.

Shah also visited the state for four days last month and met a cross-section of people in his efforts to bring back peace in the northeastern state. (PTI)