A delegation of 21 lawmakers from the newly formed opposition bloc, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), on Saturday embarked on a two-day visit to ethnic strife-torn Manipur and visited relief camps housing displaced people to take stock of the situation.
At least 150 people have been killed and nearly 50,000 displaced in Manipur since May 3, when ethnic violence erupted in the northeastern state between numerically dominant Meitei community — which forms 53% of the state population and mostly inhabit Imphal Valley — and tribal Kukis, who live primarily in the hill districts.
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Soon after landing at the Imphal airport around noon, the opposition delegation left for Churachandpur, where they visited two relief camps housing Kukis who had fled the Imphal Valley after clashes broke out.
“Both the Centre and state government should wake up from their stupor regarding the situation in Manipur. People have lost trust in the government,” said Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is part of the delegation. “We are with all the people of the state and want peace and normalcy to be restored.”
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, who is also part of the INDIA delegation, when asked about the BJP’s allegations of politicisation of the Manipur issue, said: “We would have been very happy to be a part of an all-party delegation led by the prime minister. But he is completely missing from the scene. He has not uttered a single word about Manipur in Parliament.”
{{/usCountry}}Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, who is also part of the INDIA delegation, when asked about the BJP’s allegations of politicisation of the Manipur issue, said: “We would have been very happy to be a part of an all-party delegation led by the prime minister. But he is completely missing from the scene. He has not uttered a single word about Manipur in Parliament.”
{{/usCountry}}The delegation also met representatives from Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, an umbrella group of Kuki organisations in Churachandpur, who submitted a memorandum asking the MPs to highlight their demands. “We implore you to help us survive this onslaught by supporting our demand for a separate administration from Manipur and to urge the central government to introduce President rule immediately in Manipur to end the violence,” the ITLF said in its two-page memorandum.
The delegation, comprising of 21 leaders from both Houses of Parliaments, is expected to visit Imphal on Sunday to take stock of the situation. A meeting of the visiting delegation with Governor Anusuiya Uikey is also scheduled on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Governor Uikey also visited Churachandpur on Saturday — her second trip to the district since violence started — took stock of situation in relief camps and distributed relief materials.
“I understand that people in the relief camps are going through lot of hardships. I have instructed the district authorities to ensure that residents get essentials. We are working towards restoring peace between both communities, Kukis and Meiteis,” Uikey said in Churachandpur.
The governor also met the two women who were paraded naked and sexually assaulted by a mob on May 4, and handed over cheques of ₹10 lakh each to their families. A video of the incident had surfaced on July 19, causing a nationwide outrage.
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Besides Chowdhury and Gogoi, the 21-member delegation also includes Sushmita Dev of Trinamool Congress, JMM’s Mahua Maji, DMK’s Kanimozhi, Jayant Chaudhary of RLD, Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD, N K Premachandran of RSP, JD(U) chief Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh and party MP Aneel Prasad Hegde, CPI’s P Sandosh Kumar and CPI(M)’s AA Rahim.
On Saturday, thousands of people took part in a rally in Imphal organised by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an umbrella Meitei organisation, calling for peace and an end to alleged “narco-terrorism” in the state.
A five-point resolution that included demands for an end to the present conflict, extermination of narco-terrorism, maintenance of territorial integrity of Manipur, implementation of National Register of Citizens and summoning of a special session of state assembly by August 5 were adopted at the end of the rally.