E-Paper
On Modi's radio show, TMC MP's ‘Manipur Ki Baat’ wordplay; Congress's ‘maun’ jibe
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the 102nd edition of his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat' on Sunday.
Opposition leaders targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not speaking on the ongoing violence in Manipur during his latest Mann ki Baat episode Sunday. Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, said that the prime minister patted himself on the back for India's “great capabilities in disaster management” but remained silent on “entirely man-made” humanitarian disaster confronting Manipur.
“So one more Mann ki Baat but Maun on Manipur. The PM patted himself on the back for India's great capabilities in disaster management. What about the entirely man-made (actually self-inflicted) humanitarian disaster that is confronting Manipur. Still no appeal for peace from him,” Ramesh said in a tweet.
“There is a non-auditable PM-CARES Fund but does the PM even care for Manipur is the real question,” he added.
In his Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast, Modi lauded India's increasing capability to deal with natural disasters as he expressed confidence that the people of Kutch will quickly recover from the devastation caused by cyclone Biparjoy. Modi said the Emergency was a dark era in the country's history when atrocities were committed on those supporting democracy.
He asserted that India is the mother of democracy which holds democratic values and the Constitution supreme and, therefore, “we cannot forget June 25 when Emergency was imposed on us.”
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra tweeted, “Enough Mann Ki Baat now is time for some Manipur ki Baat. Honourable PM @narendramodi ji.”
Violence spiralled in strife-torn Manipur this week, with mobs torching the houses of Union minister and BJP leaders. A mob clashed with Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel after it had set a warehouse afire and also burnt tyres, logs and waste in the middle of streets in Wangkhei, Porompat and Thangapat areas affecting the flow of traffic in Imphal.
Clashes between the majority Meitei community and the tribal Kuki community first erupted on May 3 over a court-proposed tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the former. A total of 115 people have lost their lives since then and more than 300 have been injured.
