Oppn team, including 20 MPs, to visit to violence-hit Manipur today

The delegation, from at least 20 political parties, will visit both the valley and hill areas, and also call on Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey on Sunday.

 A delegation of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), including 20 MPs, will begin a two-day visit to Manipur on Saturday to assess the ground situation and make recommendations to the government and Parliament, as part of efforts to help resolve the ethnic conflict that has roiled the northeastern state since May 3.

Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, along with others during a meeting , in New Delhi (ANI)

The delegation, from at least 20 political parties, will visit both the valley and hill areas, and also call on Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey on Sunday. Opposition leaders said that some parties, which don’t have MPs, will send other representatives.

The details of the non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance’s first visit to the state were shared by Congress MP and whip in Rajya Sabha Naseer Hussain during a press conference at the AICC headquarters in Delhi. “We have got permission from the state government to visit the affected areas as also the relief camps. We have also got permission to meet the governor, who has allowed time to the delegation on Sunday,” Hussain said. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have neither the will nor the ability to resolve the Manipur violence,” he added.

Hussain’s remarks came as the Opposition and the Centre continued to lock horns over the former’s demands for a statement by Modi and a debate in both Houses of Parliament on the matter. The Centre has only agreed for a debate so far, prompting the Opposition to continue with their protests and disrupt the ongoing proceedings of the Monsoon session.

Since May 3, Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes – primarily between the Kukis and the Meiteis. At least 150 people have been killed and over 50,000 have been displaced so far.

Congress’s Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and party MP Gaurav Gogoi, who has moved a no-confidence motion against the Centre, are among those slated to visit the northeastern state. Others include Janata Dal (United) chief Lalan Singh, Trinamool Congress’s Sushmita Dev, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Kanimozhi, Communist Party of India’s P Sandosh Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Manoj Kumar Jha, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Mahua Maji, Samajwadi Party’s Javed Ali Khan, Nationalist Congress Party’s Mohamad Faizal and Aam Aadmi Party’s Sushil Gupta. Speaking to reporters, Hussain said: “We think a lot of crucial information related to the violence is being hidden from us since there was a complete internet shutdown in the region. Since the Prime Minister is also not ready to talk about it…. INDIA parties have decided to send a delegation to the state to visit the relief camps in the valley and hill areas.”

Gogoi called for an inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge into the violence.

“The BJP wants to give the picture that everything is fine in Manipur but it is not so with violence continuing. That is why we want an inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge on how did the state government fail,” he told reporters outside Parliament. “The chief minister (N Biren Singh) himself admits that there are more than 100 FIRs. Why was the administration sleeping for two months? An all INDIA delegation will go to Manipur and find out the truth and will put forward that truth before Parliament,” he added.

Taking note of the Opposition’s plans, the BJP urged them to desist from aggravating the situation in Manipur. Former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said opposition MPs are creating tension in Parliament by disrupting its proceedings and “running away” from a debate, despite the government expressing its willingness for it. “They want to create similar tension in the state but should know its sensitivity,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)