Manipur conflict situation remains terrible; PM should walk the talk, says Bimol Akoijam
Bimol Akoijam, Congress MP representing Inner Manipur, along with Hibi Eden, MP, in Kochi on Saturday to inaugurate the Kadamakudy International Film Festival.
| Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
KOCHI
Congress Member of Parliament for the Inner Manipur constituency A. Bimol Akoijam has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take substantive action to quell the ethnic conflict in Manipur.
“The situation remains terrible in the relief camps as the houses and villages of about 60,000 people have been wiped out right under the administration. People are languishing in relief camps. Cases of arson and firing are still going on,” he told The Hindu here after inaugurating the Kadamakudy International Film Festival on Saturday.
Mr. Akoijam, who had questioned Mr. Modi’s silence on the situation in Manipur in his speech in Parliament on July 1, asked why the Prime Minister is allowing this [worsening conflict] to happen? “The MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party are asking why he should visit Manipur. If the Prime Minister can visit Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha or Assam if tragedies happen, why is he not visiting Manipur when there is a massive collapse of the State administration,” he asked.
A Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, he pointed out that violence had increased again in Manipur. “This is not about politics. This is about giving dignity and peace to the people. This is abject failure of the state. Somebody has to be made accountable right from the top to the bottom; the officers-in-charge of the administration; those in responsible of the Army deployment area; the civil servants; Army officers; and the political executive must be held accountable,” he said.
On criticism that he has not been vocal in opposing Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh for his reported failure to resolve the conflict, Mr. Akoijam stated that he had called Mr. Singh a puppet and a rubber stamp. “He is protecting the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. He should have stood up and told the Centre earlier that the law and order remained a State subject. Instead, he did whatever the Centre asked him to do,” he said.
The Congress MP blamed the national media for the ‘terrible’ coverage of the Manipur conflict. “The standards of the Press Council of India had not been followed. There had been so many lies and falsehood spread by the media and framing the conflict as one between tribal and non-tribal; Christian and Hindu. You are familiar with this narrative outside and everybody joining in this bandwagon of misinformation war,” he said.
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