The Congress on Saturday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he is “studiously avoiding” a visit to Manipur while continuing to plan his travel to other parts of the country and abroad.
Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities since May 2023. At least 237 persons have died and more than 59,000 persons displaced since the beginning of the clashes.
On Saturday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the three-member Commission of Enquiry set up by the Union government in June 2023 to investigate the causes and spread of the violence had not submitted its report.
“It was given six months to submit its report,” Ramesh said in a social media post. “No report has been submitted till now. The Commission has just been given time till Nov 24, 2024 (sic) to do so.”
Ramesh was referring to the commission headed by Ajai Lamba, the former chief justice of the Gauhati High Court. Retired Indian Administrative Service officer Himanshu Shekhar Das and retired Indian Police Service official Aloka Prabhakar are the other members on the panel.
On Friday, the Centre extended the deadline to November 20 for the commission to submit its report.
“Meanwhile the anguish and agony of the people of Manipur continues unabated,” the Opposition leader added. “And the non-biological PM continues to make plans to travel in other parts of the country and abroad, studiously avoiding a visit to this most troubled state.”
It was unclear which visits Ramesh was referring to. Earlier this month, Modi visited Brunei and Singapore. The prime minister is expected to visit the United States later this month for the meeting of the Quad leaders and the United Nations Summit of the Future, according to reports.
Ramesh’s comment came five days after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge asked why Modi had “not spent a single second in Manipur” in the past 16 months, despite the continued violence in the state.
On Monday, the Congress president had also said that it appeared that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, like the prime minister, had given up on his constitutional responsibility to ensure security in Manipur. Kharge alleged that Shah was “busy politicking and addressing rallies in [poll-bound] states” instead of resolving the situation in the northeastern state.
Kharge had also urged the Centre to immediately dismiss Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, accusing him of failing to end the ethnic violence in the state.
Also read: Harsh Mander: In the lacerated land of Manipur, borders of hate and a failed state
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