New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi "remained silent" on the ethnic violence in Manipur, and asserted the least he could have done is "issue an appeal for peace". Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal said the prime minister "remains silent" whenever a crisis situation hits the nation.
"The prime minister is like a father figure. He turned his back on the daughters of Manipur. You kept sitting in your room. The entire country is asking the reason for PM's silence. It is not the first time that he is silent. Whenever there is a crisis situation over the past nine years, the prime minister has remained silent," Kejriwal alleged. Talking about the recent protest by women wrestlers against former WFI chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the chief minister said the champion grapplers alleged sexual harassment by Singh, but the PM remained silent.
"When they won medals at the Olympics, PM Modi was the first one to click pictures with them. He had told them 'you are my daughter'. But when they were protesting, he remained silent. At least he could have said, 'I am there. I will get it inquired into and get people punished'," said Kejriwal. The women wrestlers had to go to the Supreme Court to get an FIR registered, he said. "In the case of Manipur, he could have at least issued an appeal for peace."
Meanwhile, four BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the Delhi Assembly during its proceedings on Thursday for protesting against a discussion ever the Manipur issue.
AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak began a short duration discussion over the violence in the northeastern state following which BJP MLAs got up in protest, saying issues related to Delhi should be debated in the House. Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla questioned the BJP MLAs over their protest saying, "Do they feel that Manipur is not an issue to be discussed in the Assembly? The UP Assembly also discussed the Manipur issue."
The BJP MLAs continued their protest following which four of them -- Abhay Verma, Jitender Mahajan, Ajay Mahawar and OP Sharma -- were marshalled out of the House. As the ruckus prevailed, Pathak said it was unfortunate the BJP did not want a discussion over the issue. Led by Pathak, AAP legislators also raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Earlier AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on August 11 said it is unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not visit Manipur and take any action on it. When there was violence in Manipur, PM Modi went on a foreign tour. When there was a flood situation in Delhi and the northern parts of India, he again went on a foreign tour.
"He (PM Modi) did election rallies in several states but did not visit Manipur. The whole country was hoping that PM Modi will visit Manipur and improve the situation of the state. But this never happened which is very unfortunate," Bharadwaj said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address from the ramparts of Red Fort on Tuesday, appealed for peace in strife-torn Manipur saying that people across the country stand with the people of the Northeast state.
The whole country stands with the people of Manipur. Peace is the only way to resolve all disputes. The Centre and the Manipur government are making every effort to ensure that peace returns to the state at the earliest, PM Modi said. The violence in the Northeast state has claimed over 100 lives while displacing thousands more. Notably, a viral video from Manipur — where two women were purportedly seen being paraded naked — triggered a war of words and raised concerns over the Manipur situation, amid ethnic clashes since May 4. (With Agency Inputs)
