New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah today claimed there was a 68 per cent decline in incidents of violence in Manipur and attacked the Opposition for not allowing the Home Minister of the country to make a statement in the House on the issue till they moved the No-confidence motion against the government. He said the Opposition could have demanded an explanation from the Prime Minister if it was not satisfied with the Home Minister’s reply, and in that case, the PM would have positively considered their demand.
“From day one I was ready for the discussion on the Manipur issue but Opposition never wanted to do a discussion. The opposition doesn’t want me to speak but they can’t silence me,” he said.
Participating in the debate against the motion in Lok Sabha today, Shah said the motion was moved by the Opposition only to “mislead people”. While no one could support what happened in Manipur, “doing politics on these incidents is shameful”, he said. He pointed out that 152 people were killed so far in the violence but the maximum casualty was in the first three days of the ethnic clashes that erupted on May 3, 2023. He broadly cited three reasons for the present violence in the state – the influx of Kuki refugees from Myanmar, rumours about their settlements, and finally a Manipur High Court directive to the government to consider the Meitei community to be included in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list. He said the ethnic violence began during a protest procession of the Kukis following the court directive.
Shah said so far 14,898 people were arrested and 1,106 FIRs registered since violence erupted on May 3, 2023. He said the tempers were still running high between the two ethnic communities, but the situation has been brought under control with the deployment of security forces in a “buffer zone” that separates the Metei-dominated areas from the Kuki settlements. He appealed to the people of both Kuki and Meitei communities to shun violence and participate in a dialogue with the Union Government. After his speech, the Lok Sabha adopted a resolution calling for the restoration of peace in Manipur.
Shah ruled out the removal of the Manipur Chief Minister because he was cooperating with the Centre. As for the viral video of two Kuki women who were shown paraded naked and sexually assaulted, Shah said while it was shameful and a blot on the nation, he questioned the motive of those who were behind making it viral just a day before the commencement of Parliament’s monsoon session. He pointed out that the video was from May 4, 2023, and asked why the Director General of Police there not informed about it at that time. He said nine people were identified and arrested in this case and are facing trial.
With general elections less than a year ahead, Shah also chose the occasion to highlight the achievement of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government since it assumed power for the first time in 2014. He compared the 9-year achievements of this government with the achievements of its predecessor, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government within the same timeframe of 9 years, between 2005-2014, to bring home the point that the Modi government’s achievements were much bigger than the UPA government, which he claimed to be corrupt. According to him, the name of UPA was changed to I.N.D.I.A. because UPA had become a symbol of corruption, scams and nepotism, and the people understood this.
While Shah said he spoke about the government’s achievement because a No-confidence motion is all about the government’s performance, the leader of the Congress Party in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, later claimed before media persons that the Home Minister spoke on various schemes of the government in the House only to “hide the main agenda”. Chowdhury reiterated that the reason behind moving the no-confidence motion was to make sure that the Prime Minister speaks on Manipur in Parliament. Modi is expected to reply to the motion tomorrow.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while participating in the debate, stated, “India is a voice, a voice of the heart. You have killed that voice in Manipur. You have murdered Bharat Mata in Manipur. You are traitors”. However, Shah accused Rahul of trying to instigate the violence during his visit to Manipur recently. “Rahul Gandhi went to Manipur and insisted on going to Churachandpur by road. We had suggested him to go by helicopter but he refused and indulged in a drama. When his cavalcade was stopped because of security concerns, he got it televised live. Then he took a chopper the next day. If he was so adamant about going by road then why did he take the helicopter? If you think you can trouble the government and people won’t notice, they will,” Shah said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Smriti Irani accused Rahul of blowing a “flying kiss” while leaving Parliament after his speech in Lok Sabha today and called him a ‘misogynist’. “Never before has the misogynistic behaviour of a man been so visible in parliament. When the House of the People – where laws are made to protect the dignity of women – during the course of a session stands witness to a man’s misogyny, my question is should he be brought to task?” she said. However, the Congress said Rahul was only gesturing towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs who were shouting slogans. However, women BJP MPs demanded action and complained to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla that Gandhi had insulted women with his alleged “indecent gesture”.
– global bihari bureau
