Congress MP A. Bimol Akoijam from strife-hit Manipur has reminded Union home minister Amit Shah about the Centre’s “historical, political, moral and legal responsibility to defend” the state.
In a six-page representation to Shah on Tuesday, the first-time Lok Sabha MP said the “unprecedented violent crisis in my home state” that evokes “memories of the Partition of India in 1947” has “further taken a dangerous turn, with the loss of lives and property as a result of aerial attacks, reportedly/involving weaponised drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and rockets/missiles”.
While requesting Shah to take “immediate corrective measures and other necessary steps to restore peace and normalcy” in the state, Bimol has drawn the attention of Shah “to a moment in history to understand why such an assault on Manipur must not be allowed by the government of India”.
The Opposition MP turned the pages of history, pointing out that as “British India” and the “native states” came together to constitute “this great country of ours in 1947, Manipur was one of those states”.
In the process, the then Maharajah of Manipur, Shri Bodhchandra, handed over the defence of Manipur to the government of India through the Instrument of Accession, which he signed on August 11, 1947.
“This historical obligation is embedded in Article 355 of our present Constitution as well without subverting what Dr B.R. Ambedkar called the ‘sovereign and plenary’ authority of the constituting states. Therefore, the government of India has a historical, political, moral and legal responsibility to defend Manipur,” he said.
Bimol’s letter to Shah came amid the volatile situation triggered by the September 1 aerial strikes leading to intense protests in the five valley districts, which were placed under curfew on Tuesday. After two days of intense protests, under-curfew Imphal valley was relatively calmer on Wednesday. There were a couple of protests but not of the same intensity as was witnessed on Tuesday.
Finger at PM
At a news conference in Delhi, the Congress leadership of Manipur questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intent in allowing the situation to fester for 16 months without any intervention from him, wondering why he is not showing the same concern that he has for the Russia-Ukraine conflict to the strife-torn state. “He has time to travel to different parts of the world and the country but has not found the time to visit Manipur since violence began there over a year ago,” the Congress said.
