Ask PM to speak on strife in Parl, Oppn urges Prez
The delegation also suggested Murmu to nominate two Manipuri women from different communities to as many vacant reserved seats in Rajya Sabha
A delegation of 31 lawmakers from the newly formed opposition bloc, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu, urging her to “press” Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “urgently” address the Manipur issue in Parliament.
The delegation, led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, also suggested Murmu to nominate two Manipuri women from different communities to as many vacant reserved seats in Rajya Sabha, to help rectify the “grievous harm” inflicted on women in the ethnic strife-torn northeastern state.
In the meeting, Kharge appraised the president of the ongoing situation in Manipur, while underlining that the “prime minister is missing from Parliament and we are trying to break the deadlock and bring the PM to the House”. Congress’s floor leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, read out the Opposition’s memorandum to the President.
As Murmu was about to leave after the meeting, Trinamool Congress’s Rajya Sabha member Sushmita Dev drew her attention to the plight of women in Manipur. Dev, who hails from Silchar in Assam, informed the president that she visited Manipur twice after ethnic violence erupted in the state on May 3.
“We want peace and normalcy to return to Manipur. I appeal to you to give a strong message of solidarity to women from all communities who have been violated. I appeal to you that there are two seats in Rajya Sabha, which are vacant. Please nominate two Manipuri women from two different communities for those two seats,” Dev told the president in an emotional appeal.
At least 150 people have been killed and nearly 50,000 displaced in Manipur since May 3, when ethnic violence erupted in the northeastern state between numerically dominant Meitei community — which forms 53% of the state population and mostly inhabit Imphal Valley — and tribal Kukis, who live primarily in the hill districts.
“We met the President and the 21-member delegation who had visited Manipur apprised her of the situation. She said she will think about the memorandum. We also revealed to her how sophisticated weapons were being brought into the state in huge numbers,” Kharge told reporters after the meeting. “The PM should have visited there to restore peace between the Meiteis and Kukis.”
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, who was also part of the opposition delegation, took the opportunity to highlight communal violence in different states. Abdullah alleged that the Centre was creating a “divisive” situation in states, from Manipur to Haryana, citing the latest clashes in Mewat.
The memorandum also referred to the “silencing of Leader of Opposition’s mic in the House when attempting to speak on Manipur and also touched upon the ongoing communal tension in Haryana while complaining that the government was not taking enough action on incidents that are taking place “barely 100 km from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)”.
Besides Kharge, Abdullah and the 21 opposition MPs who had visited Manipur on July 29-30, the delegation also included NCP chief Sharad Pawar, TMC’s Derek O’Brien, Janata Dal (United) chief Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh, DMK’s Kanimozhi, and Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena (UBT).
