‘Misinterpreting history’: Manipur Congress demands apology from Amit Shah

Former state chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who also addressed the media here at the Congress office, said such “misinterpretation and falsification” of Manipur’s history is unacceptable and Amit Shah owes an apology to the people of Manipur

The Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has demanded public clarification and an apology from union home minister Amit Shah for allegedly “misinterpreting the history” of Manipur during his visit to the northeastern state on January 6.

K Meghachandra (left) and Okram Ibobi Singh (right) held a press conference at Congress Bhawan in Imphal (Twitter/@INCManipur)

“Union Home minister Amit Shahji’s speech during his recent visit to the state is misinterpreting the history of Manipur,” MPCC-I President K Meghachandra said while addressing a press conference in Imphal on Sunday.

Former state chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who also addressed the media here at the Congress Bhawan expressed hope that the historians and experts would find such historical facts as claimed by the union minister.

Shah, while addressing a public gathering after inaugurating several projects in the state, said that Arjuna of Mahabharata married a woman from Manipur, and their sons participated in the battle of Kurukshetra. He said that the son of Arjuna became the king of Manipur.

“That is not our Manipur. So a public clarification and apology is needed not to mislead the public,” he demanded.

Shah tried to narrate the wrong history of Manipur and integrate Hindutva into Manipur history, Ibobi said, adding historians should give their opinions on Shah’s claim that the people of Manipur are the descendants of Arjuna.

The union home minister, who was in Manipur on January 6, inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 21 projects worth ₹1311 crore.

Ibobi also claimed that most of the projects, which were inaugurated during the union minister’s visit, were initiated by the then Congress government.