New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday slammed the Centre after a May 4 video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur surfaced, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge accusing the Narendra Modi government of turning democracy into "mobocracy". He said that "humanity has died in Manipur" and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak about the ethnic violence-hit state in Parliament and tell the nation what happened.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament starts on Thursday. In a tweet, Kharge said, "Modi government and the BJP have changed democracy and the rule of law into Mobocracy by destroying the delicate social fabric of the state.
"Narendra Modi ji, India will never forgive your silence. If there is any conscience or an iota of shame left in your government, then you should speak about Manipur in the Parliament and tell the nation what happened without blaming others for your dual incompetence -- both at the Centre and the state," he tweeted.
The Congress chief accused PM Modi of having "abdicated" his constitutional responsibility and said, "In this hour of crisis, we stand together with the people of Manipur." Slamming the government, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said it has been 78 days since a full-scale ethnic violence broke out in Manipur and 77 days since the ghastly incident where two women were stripped, paraded and allegedly raped.
It has been 63 days since an FIR was filed against unknown persons and the culprits are still at large, he said. "The rest of India had little clue that such a horrific incident occurred due to the ongoing Internet ban in Manipur. But it's absolutely inexcusable that the Women and Child Development Minister (Smriti Irani) waited for 76 days to speak to the Manipur CM or even issue a statement," Ramesh said in his long Twitter post.