India News | TMC, DMK Accuse Govt of Being 'silent Spectator' on Manipur Crisis
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Opposition Trinamool Congress and DMK on Wednesday accused the government of not doing anything to resolve the crisis in Manipur and maintaining stoic silence on the issue.
New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) Opposition Trinamool Congress and DMK on Wednesday accused the government of not doing anything to resolve the crisis in Manipur and maintaining stoic silence on the issue.
Speaking in Lok Sabha during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the government, TMC member Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar alleged that the "double engine" government in Manipur has failed and the Centre is covering up the real situation in ethnic violence-hit Manipur.
She also claimed that arms are being stolen from government armouries and wondered whether it is being done in connivance with the state government.
"Is this an ethnic cleansing operation... What is the master plan (to deal with the situation)... ?" Dastidar asked.
The Manipur crisis is spreading to other northeastern states, including Mizoram where a section of people is being thrown out of the state, she alleged.
The TMC MP also wanted to know why the members of the treasury benches are not talking about the situation in Manipur. "Why does the government not talk about Manipur? Why is the government giving a report card? This is not election time," Dastidar said.
"The double engine government has failed completely to save people from manslaughter, mayhem, lawlessness...," Dastidar said.
She claimed that "5,000-6,000 houses have been burnt and women have been tortured, molested and gang raped" in Manipur. There is no proper facility for food and hygiene in relief camps and the treasury benches do not have the "guts" to talk about it, the TMC leader said.
"How this has been covered up by the government, internet was blocked... the nation hardly got information... the nation is seeing an unforeseen betrayal of democracy and indifference towards respect for individual liberty... in all the 10 states with 'double engine' government," Dastidar said.
The term "double engine" is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state.
DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said Manipur has the highest ratio of police personnel to civilians in India, but the government has failed the people.
"The silence of the Union government, the prime minister (Narendra Modi), and the inaction of the state government which watched as houses burned, its armoury was looted and people killed each other, women were being humiliated, stripped, paraded, violated and killed... this 'double engine' stood hand-in-hand watching and saying 'brothers are fighting'," she said.
She claimed that 170 people have been killed in clashes in Manipur, 60,000 displaced, 6,000 houses burnt, and people beheaded and women raped.
"This is the first time in India that the judiciary had to intervene to protect the state," Kanimozhi said.
The Supreme Court on Monday had ordered setting up of a committee of three former women high court judges to oversee relief and rehabilitation of victims in Manipur and compensation to them besides asking former Maharashtra police chief Dattatray Padsalgikar to monitor the probe in criminal cases.
During her speech, DMK members also alleged that the Lok Sabha TV camera was not focusing on Kanimozhi and was instead showing Kirit Solanki, who was chairing the proceedings of the House.
Kanimozhi said both the perpetrators and those who were silent spectators in the Manipur clashes would be punished by the people India, just as had happened in the Mahabharata.
"Whether it is Kuki, Nagas or Meiteis, we only saw despair and despondency in their eyes. I request the prime minister and the central government to reach out to the people and say that we care and justice will be done...We would like to know whether the government stands with them," Kanimozhi said.
More than 160 people have lost their lives and several hundreds have been injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in the northeastern state 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.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals - Nagas and Kukis - constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.
BJP MP Ram Kripal Yadav said that the 140 crore people of India have faith in Prime Minister Modi and the opposition is just stoking the fire in Manipur for political gains.
He said that India will win, while "parties which are arrogant, corrupt, dynastic and (resort to) appeasement will lose".
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)