Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda on Friday accused the Congress of “sensationalising the situation in Manipur”, and alleged that previous Congress governments in the North East were responsible for the ongoing violence in the state.
Nadda made the assertions in a letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. On Tuesday, Kharge had written to President Droupadi Murmu, seeking her intervention to bring about peace and alleging that the Union and state governments had completely failed to curb violence in Manipur.
Nadda, however, claimed on Friday that previous Congress governments legitimised the “illegal migration of foreign militants” into India, and signed treaties with them.
“Furthermore, these known militant leaders – fleeing their country to avoid arrest – were wholeheartedly endorsed and encouraged to carry on their destabilising efforts,” the BJP chief alleged.
Nadda claimed that due to this, militant groups were now attempting to destroy the “hard-won peace in Manipur”.
The BJP chief said that under previous Congress governments, Manipur witnessed “one of its bloodiest periods in history”, and that thousands were killed and lakhs displaced because of violence.
Nadda claimed that the BJP, unlike the Congress, would not allow Manipur to be pushed back into the “age of anarchy”.
However, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that Nadda’s letter was “full of falsehood” and described it as a “4D exercise – denial, distortion, distraction and defamation”.
Ramesh said that the people of Manipur wanted to know when Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit the state, how much longer will Chief Minister N Biren Singh “continue to be inflicted on the state, when a majority of MLAs are not in his support”.
The Congress leader said the government should say when a full-time governor would be appointed for Manipur, and when Union Home Minister Amit Shah would take responsibility for the violence in the state.
There has been an uptick in violence in Manipur over the past two weeks, with at least 22 persons having been killed since November 7. At least 255 persons have died and more than 59,000 persons displaced since the clashes broke out between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo-Hmars in May 2023.
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