New Delhi: After a three-hour all-party meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the violence in Manipur, the Congress once again questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also demanded the resignation of Chief Minister N Biren Singh. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, former Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who attended the meeting, said, “Today the Home Minister organized a meeting about Manipur at the national level. I was there as a Congress representative.” . It’s very unfortunate.” From my side that they are not giving time. I started by thanking Shah for organizing this meeting after a gap of 50 days and said that we hope that such a meeting would be appropriate if the Prime Minister presides over it.
He said he believes that despite being a small state, Manipur is strategically important as it shares borders with other countries as well. CLP leader in the Assembly Ibobi Singh hit out at the Prime Minister, saying that till now, even after 50 days, he has not tweeted or expressed a single word when Manipur is burning.
“Why didn’t he mention a single word for Manipur?” Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said it was sad that the chief minister, who ruled the state for 15 years, did not get enough time to speak during the three-hour long meeting as he got only seven to eight minutes.
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“If anyone knows Manipur well, it is Ibobi Singh and he is still an MLA. Manipur was burning in June 2001 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the chief minister and after that Manipur came back on track because Ibobi Singh took a Gave a stable government. And outside the Congress leader said, “It is sad and humiliating to give only 7-8 minutes in a three-hour meeting.”
Upholding his party’s eight demands, Ramesh said, “This all-party meeting should have been chaired by the Prime Minister, who has not spoken a single word on Manipur in the last 50 days. It should have been an all-party meeting.” It would have been better if the Prime Minister presided over it and it would have been in Imphal. This would send a clear message to the people of Manipur that their pain and distress is also a matter of national suffering.” He also demanded that all armed groups should be disarmed immediately without any compromise.
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Hitting out at the BJP-led government in Manipur, he said, “The chief minister should be replaced immediately as the state government has miserably failed to provide effective governance when it was most needed. The chief minister himself twice publicly Have accepted failure.” He has also apologized to the people for handling the situation and dealing with the crisis.
He further said that on March 11, the Chief Minister unilaterally withdrew the state government’s commitment to a tripartite agreement on suspension of operations with some militant groups claiming to be supportive of Kuki interests. The Congress leader said, “His move was later overruled by the Union Home Ministry, but by then a lot of damage had been done. This is a glaring example in a series of blunders.”
The Congress leader also demanded that the unity and territorial integrity of Manipur should not be compromised in any way, while the grievances of each community should be sensitively heard and addressed.
He also asked the Central Government to ensure availability of essential commodities by keeping both the National Highways open and safe at all times and to prepare a package of relief, rehabilitation, resettlement and livelihood for the affected people without delay . ,
Ramesh said that the announced relief package is very inadequate. The remarks by Congress leaders came after an all-party meeting chaired by the Union Home Minister here to discuss the situation in Manipur and the steps taken by the government.