In Delhi assembly, CM hits out at PM on Manipur violence

Six BJP MLAs were marshaled out, and leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and senior leader Vijender Gupta walked out

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Delhi assembly over the ethnic violence in Manipur, alleging that the PM remained silent on the issue for too long.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal speaks during a session of the Delhi Assembly at Vidhan Sabha on Thursday. (ANI)

Read here: Kharge takes dig at Modi for not visiting violence-hit Manipur

Kejriwal spoke in a House where his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has an overwhelming majority, but not without protests from the eight Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members in the 70-member assembly.

As tempers flared after AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak initiated a discussion on “disturbances in Manipur and the atrocities being faced by the people there”, six BJP MLAs were marshaled out, and leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and senior leader Vijender Gupta walked out. The BJP MLAs then held a protest outside the CM’s office, demanding a discussion on issues facing the people of Delhi rather than on Manipur.

In the House, Kejriwal said the BJP’s reaction was symptomatic of how it has handled the Manipur issue.

“The violence of Manipur is painful. The BJP MLAs are giving bytes outside that they do not have anything to do with Manipur,” Kejriwal said in his speech. “When the people of Manipur see this, what will they feel? They (BJP MLAs) are just passing down the message from senior BJP leaders including the PM on the issue. The PM is silent on the Manipur issue. Over 150 people have been killed. Homes of 4,000 people have been torched. At least 60,000 people have been displaced due to the violence... but PM has remained silent,” Kejriwal added.

He said that the “BJP leaders say Modi is the first PM who visited North East 50 times; but he turned his back in times of crisis”. “When a video emerged in which two-three women were being paraded naked, the PM remained silent. The Manipur CM (N Biren Singh) said this is not an isolated incident and it is happening every day. The PM turned his back on the daughters of Manipur,” Kejriwal said.

On July 19, a 30-second video showing a mob of hooting men stripping and parading two tribal women naked in Manipur sparked a nationwide outcry. One of the women was later gang-raped, the FIR in the case said, adding that the mob also killed her 19-year-old brother for trying to intervene. The CBI arrested 10 people in this connection.

To be sure, Prime Minister Modi spoke on Manipur outside Parliament at the start of the monsoon session on July 20, on August 10 during the discussion on the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition, and during his Independence Day address.

“In the past few weeks, during the period of violence in the North East, especially in Manipur, many people lost their lives, and the honour of mothers and daughters suffered a lot, but in the last few days, there are reports of peace. The nation is with Manipur,” Modi said on August 15 from the ramparts of Red Fort, adding that all efforts were being made to bring normalcy in the state.

Since May 3, Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes, triggered by an order by the Manipur high court that recommended to the government that the Meiteis, the dominant community in Manipur forming 53% of the population, be included in the scheduled tribe list.

Kejriwal alleged in his speech on that the PM’s silence was not restricted to Manipur. He spoke about the recent communal clashes in Haryana, the protests by women wrestlers against the wrestling body chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the Hindenburg report on the Adani Group, the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, and the Chinese aggression along the LAC.

Read here: Delhi Police adopts blockchain tech to record chain of custody of evidence

In response, the Delhi BJP leaders said that Kejriwal was trying to divert attention from important issues facing Delhi.

“Union home minister Amit Shah is regularly monitoring the law-and-order situation... and Union minister Nityanand Rai camped there for continuous monitoring. Kejriwal has no concern for Manipuri people and is only trying to do politics in the name of Manipuri people,” Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said.