Manipur opposition leaders rue as PM Modi leaves for US without meeting them New Delhi: As many as 10 opposition parties from violence-hit Manipur on Tuesday said they were “extremely disappointed” as Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for the US without meeting them or even uttering a word on the ongoing arson in the north-eastern state that started on May 3.
“We are extremely disappointed as the PM failed to meet our delegation and has not even uttered a word on the raging violence in Manipur. We had been waiting here to get an appointment from the PM since June 10. But we did not get any time. Hence, we submitted a memorandum to the PMO today expressing our concerns over the situation in Manipur. We have urged the PM to take immediate steps for restoration of peace in the tiny border state which has been burning since May 3,” JD-U leader Dr Nimaichand Luwang said.
In their memorandum, the 10 opposition parties, including the Congress, JD-U, Shiv Sena UBT, CPI and others demanded the immediate sacking of Manipur chief minister Biren Singh saying he was squarely responsible for the prevailing situation and failed to control the violence raging since May 3.
“All of us are of the view that the chief minister is solely responsible for the violence in Manipur. In a normal situation, any chief minister would have taken no more than a week to bring the situation under control if he had taken strict action against the rioters. Worse still, the chief minister recently admitted his own failure when he said that there was intelligence failure behind the ongoing violence and that there had been security lapses,” said Luwang.
According to Okram Ibobi Singh, former three-term chief minister of Manipur and a senior Congress leader, as the violence had remained out of control in the tiny state despite the visit of the union home minister Amit Shah, it showed that there was a motive behind the flare up. “Is there some secret agenda of the Centre and the state government as they have done little to control violence in the state? Incidents of arson are happening even today and yesterday five houses belonging to Meitis and one house belonging to a Naga were burnt down. Some days we all saw that the house of junior union minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh was burnt down in Imphal. We fear that the violence that had been between the Meitis and Kukis, may now spread against the Nagas. If this happens it will be dangerous for the state,” Ibobi Singh said.
“If the PM has no time to meet an opposition delegation at a time when the state is burning, it gives a message that the Centre does not care for us as we are a small state. Had this happened in a state like Haryana or Madhya Pradesh the response would have been different. Not only the opposition leaders, but the BJP MPs from Manipur too are waiting to meet the PM over the recent violence. We are not beggars. We did not want to meet the PM and ask him for anything. We are concerned that Manipur is a border state and the situation there must be controlled at once. If the chief minister is removed today, the situation on the ground will improve within 24 hours,” the former chief minister said.
The opposition leaders wondered what would happen if the PM faced a question on Manipur during his US visit. “What will the PM say if someone asks him about the situation in Manipur? The people of Manipur are concerned that the PM has not spoken a word over the violence so far,” said Ibobi Singh.
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