Manipur Violence: Opposition slams PM Modi for addressing US Congress but refusing to speak in Parliament

Congress on Monday said Union home minister Amit Shah’s statement suggesting the government’s readiness to discuss the Manipur issue in the Parliament was a “desperate bid to manage headlines”, adding the senior BJP leader is not “doing anybody special favour.” Congress general-secretary Jairam Ramesh said the opposition’s demand is for a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ethnic clashes in Manipur followed by a discussion.

Amid sloganeering from opposition MPs demanding a statement by PM Modi, Shah said the government is ready to discuss the situation in Manipur. “I urge all the respected members of the opposition that on a very sensitive issue, many members have demanded a discussion by the ruling party and the opposition, I am ready for the discussion. I do not know why the opposition does not want to allow discussion,” Shah said in Lok Sabha.

“I request the leader of the opposition to let the discussion happen and this truth should be known to the whole country, it is very important,” he added. While Shah was speaking sloganeering continued from opposition benches with a few MPs leaving their seats and raising placards in the House with “INDIA stands with Manipur people”, written on them.

Last week, Prime Minister Modi broke more than two months of public silence over the ethnic clashes in the northeastern state, telling reporters that mob assaults on two women who were paraded naked were unforgivable. While the prime minister promised tough action against the accused, he did not refer directly to the larger violence.

Both houses of Parliament have been repeatedly disrupted during the ongoing Monsoon session as the opposition stopped proceedings with their demand for a statement from Modi.

After Shah’s remarks in Lok Sabha, Ramesh said in a tweet, “In a desperate bid to manage headlines, the Home Minister today said that the Modi govt is ready for a discussion on Manipur in Parliament.”

“He is not doing anybody any special favour. The perfectly democratic and legitimate demand of the parties comprising INDIA is for a statement by the Prime Minister on the Manipur situation FIRST followed by a discussion.”

“HM is totally silent on this. What is the hesitation in getting PM to speak INSIDE Parliament first?” he asked. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said PM Modi can address the joint session of the US Congress, but he “cannot speak inside our nation’s Parliament.”

PM Modi can hug French President Macron, but he refuses to hug the victims of Manipur violence, Gogoi said. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted it was Modi’s “duty to make a comprehensive statement inside the Parliament on Manipur violence.”

A video showing sexual assaults on women belonging to the Kuki-Zomi community of Manipur sparked nationwide outrage. The video showed two naked women surrounded by scores of young men who grope their genitals and drag them to a field. Manipur police have faced criticism for not acting promptly after the first complaint in the case was lodged on May 18, and not arresting the culprits even after the FIR was transferred to the nearest police station on June 21. The first arrest was made on Thursday, 77 days after the assault and a day after the video of the incident went viral.