The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra got off to a rousing start in Manipur on a warm and breezy Sunday afternoon with Rahul Gandhi flagging the “great injustices” Indians were suffering and pledging to “bring back the harmony, peace and affection” that Manipur had always “valued”.

Addressing an unexpectedly large crowd of about 20,000 at Khongjom in Thoubal district, Rahul said the 66-day, 6,713km Manipur-to-Mumbai Yatra through 15 states had been organised because Indians were going through a period of great injustice — social, economic and political.

“Injustice against the people of Manipur, the traditions of Manipur, but also injustice across the nation,” he said during his 12-minute speech.

The Yatra was to be flagged off around 1.30pm, with Rahul and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge scheduled to arrive at 12-12.30pm. However, the flag-off took place at 4.30pm after fog delayed the two leaders’ arrival from Delhi.

An enthusiastic crowd of thousands, mostly Congress workers from in and around Thoubal, as well as local party leaders had gathered at the venue — a private plot of land close to the Khongjom War Memorial to the martyrs of the 1891 Anglo-Manipuri War. Rahul paid homage to the Manipuri martyrs at the memorial.

He said what he had seen and heard during his Manipur visit in June — weeks after the ethnic violence began on May 3 — he had never seen or heard before.

“I have been in politics since 2004 but for the first time I went to a state where there was a complete collapse of the governance infrastructure.... There was hatred in every corner, lakhs of people suffered — brothers, sisters, parents got killed — but till today the PM of India has not visited Manipur to wipe your tears, to hug you, to hold your hands,” he said.

“This is shameful. Maybe this is because Manipur is not a part of India for Narendra Modiji, for the BJP and the RSS. Your hurt, your pain, is not theirs.”

Rahul said there had been a question about where to start the Nyay Yatra from, but he was clear in his mind that it should start from Manipur and nowhere else because the situation in the state was “a sign” of the BJP’s politics.

“What my brother (Manipur folk singer Guru Ruwben Mashangva) sang from the Yatra bus — that ‘We have lost what is precious to us’…. You have lost it because of the ideology of the BJP, because of the politics of the BJP, because of the hatred that the BJP and the RSS spread in their politics,” Rahul said.

“I was listening to my brother (Ruwben) when he was saying, ‘We have lost what we value’ and I was thinking to myself, ‘Yes, you have lost what you have valued, but we will find what you valued once again and bring it back to you’.”

He added: “We understand, all of us on the stage understand the pain that the people of Manipur have been through. We understand the hurt, the loss, the sadness that you have been through and we promise you, we commit to you that we will bring back what you valued…. We will bring back the harmony, the peace, the affection that this state has always been known for.”

Dwelling on the other injustices people were suffering across India, he said that economically, monopolies were being built. Only a few people had access to the country’s wealth, one or two business houses had their finger in every pie, and the large majority of small and medium businesses were being destroyed.

Rahul also touched upon the massive unemployment and price rise.

He said that large masses of people, including the backward castes, Dalits and tribal communities, simply “do not have a say” in the governance of the country.

Kharge flagged the Yatra off in the presence of state Congress presidents, Congress Working Committee members and chief ministers.

Speaking before Rahul, the Congress president said the Yatra aimed to “stop” the fascist forces in the country, “save” democracy and the Constitution, and build a better life for “future generations”.

Many who were at the gathering — among them Meira Paibi and Congress member Bimala Devi, former Sashastra Seema Bal trooper Priyokumar Singh, and activist James Mayengsam — were happy that the Yatra had been launched from Manipur.

“It gives us space to become part of the national discourse,” James said.

The Manipur units of nine INDIA bloc parties, including the JDU and the Shiv Sena (UBT), extended support to the rally.

On Sunday, the Yatra covered about 50km — from Khongjom to Sekmai in Imphal West — by bus. It is scheduled to enter Nagaland late on Monday.

Big turnout

The huge turnout attracted as much attention as the giant cut-outs of Rahul, for the administration had given “permission for only 3,000” on account of the law-and-order situation in the state, where at least 202 have been killed in violence and over 67,000 displaced since May 3.

A policeman on duty said the turnout would have been around 20,000. A significant number of the participants were women in their traditional and colourful best. The crowd began arriving by 8.30am and peaked around 2.30pm.

The 40-minute car drive from Imphal to Khongjom took more than two hours after the Yatra was flagged off, for there was heavy traffic for nearly 10km.

A state Congress leader said the turnout was “beyond our expectations”, particularly since the party had not mobilised crowds because of the situation. There were many non-Congress participants, she said.

There was a 40-member group from the Hamro Party of Darjeeling, including its leader Ajoy Edwards, who said the group wanted to stand by Rahul.