■ They met the two women who were disrobed, paraded and sexually assaulted in Manipur.
■ They met students who are staring at an uncertain future.
■ They met many whose houses have been destroyed and do not know where to go from relief camps.
■ They met people who pleaded with them to take up “our cause and apprise the nation about our plight”.
The pronoun “they” should have been “he”, the Prime Minister of India. Instead, INDIA did on Saturday what Narendra Modi has not till now.
The mother of one of the women paraded naked in Manipur on May 4. She and her daughter met the INDIA delegation on Saturday PTI
It is unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to support Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh instead of demanding accountability and asking him to resign, a delegate of INDIA, the Opposition coalition, said on Saturday after witnessing first-hand the plight of those displaced by the conflict in the northeastern state.
Gaurav Gogoi, the Congress MP from Assam, told The Telegraph that 21 MPs belonging to the parties allied with INDIA interacted with the inmates of two relief camps in Churachandpur in the hills and one each in Moirang and Imphal in the valley. Mostly the majority Meiteis live in the valley while the hills house the Kukis and other tribal communities.
The delegation had divided itself into two groups to cover the four relief camps and interact with as many people as possible.
Three women MPs from the INDIA delegation met the two women who were paraded naked and assaulted by a crowd on May 4.
A video clip of the atrocity had prompted the Prime Minister to break his silence on the Manipur violence after over 75 days.
Congress MP Phulo Devi Netam interacts with children at a relief camp in Churachandpur district on Saturday. PTI
“What we could sense from our interaction is that people are extremely afraid to go back to their homes. Families have been separated, there is fear for their safety,” Gogoi said.
“The roles of the state government and the chief minister have been crucial to why violence spread to so many villages and so many homes. So many houses have been burnt and so many families destroyed. It is unfortunate that the Prime Minister continues to support the chief minister instead of demanding accountability and asking him to resign,” he added.
A medical student during a protest in Churachandpur district on Saturday. PTI
The Manipur trip is the first such joint initiative in a state by INDIA (the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) since it was launched on July 18 in Bangalore. Both the Centre and Manipur have BJP-led governments.
Another member of the INDIA delegation, Trinamul’s Sushmita Dev, said: “They (the two women) said that if the CM had bona fide interest in solving the problem, he should first answer why they were sexually assaulted and why the father and son (of one of the victims) killed by the mob in presence of police. ‘Why has he not taken action against them? Why has he not suspended the police present there?’”
Dev added: “The fact that the CM has not taken any action against the police personnel in whose presence the incident took place shows the CM of Manipur has absolutely no conviction to solve the problem of Manipur.”
Leaders of INDIA meet affected people at a relief camp in Imphal East district in Manipur on Saturday. PTI
Seven persons have been arrested in the case after the video of the May 4 savagery surfaced on July 19, according to the police. It is not known whether any action against the police personnel allegedly present had been taken. The CBI has taken over the investigation. Chief minister Singh had said none involved in the atrocity would be spared.
After interacting with MBBS students in Churachandpur, Dev said that higher education had “come to a standstill”. “Both the victims and the students said they have no faith in the chief minister. We expected the government to send an all-party team but since the government is not responding, the team from the Opposition alliance, INDIA, has come. This is our first joint visit,” Dev said.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of recognised tribes in Lamka (Churachandpur), submitted a representation to the INDIA delegation, appealing to them to take up “our cause and apprise the nation about our plight”.
“We implore you to help us survive this onslaught by supporting our demand for a separate administration from Manipur...,” the representation said.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, JMM MP Mahua Maji, former Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and other leaders of the INDIA coalition meet affected people at a relief camp in Imphal East district on Saturday. PTI
Thanking the delegation for “coming” and for “caring”, the ITLF also wanted the INDIA delegation to “urge the central government to introduce President’s Rule immediately in Manipur to end the violence”.
The ITLF said: “While all sides have suffered, the minority Kuki-Zo tribals have borne the brunt of the violence, making up over two-thirds of the deaths in the conflict. With just 16 per cent of the population, spread thinly over large areas of the state, we are in danger of being wiped out by the 53 per cent of the population which controls the state government and the police.”
The ITLF alleged that “thousands of weapons looted from state armouries” in the capital Imphal are “being used in the majority community’s ethnic cleansing campaign”.
State police commandos with sophisticated guns and mortars have been “openly joining armed” Meitei gunmen in raiding tribal villages and attacking the frontlines, the ITLF said. The Meitei organisations have accused Kuki-Chin “narco-terrorists” of fuelling the unrest.
