Multi-party delegation of MPs submits memorandum to Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey
NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI: The government has failed to provide relief to the people of Manipur, alleged members of the multi-party delegation of MPs of the Opposition alliance INDIA after concluding their two-day visit to the violence-hit state. On Sunday, the 21-member delegation submitted a memorandum to Governor Anusuiya Uikey, requesting her to do the needful to restore peace and inform the Centre of the ‘complete breakdown of law and order’.
The MPs, who were in the state to conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the situation, visited relief camps where people from the two communities in conflict were lodged. They said they were shocked and sad to hear the stories of the inmates. They said there was anger and a sense of alienation among all communities and this should be addressed without delay.
They also alleged that it was established beyond doubt that the state machinery failed to control the situation. The MPs said the condition in the relief camps was pathetic and stressed that special care must be taken for the children on a priority basis.
“Tall remarks are made in Delhi and outside the country… Nobody is bothered. There is a lack of food and medicines. Students are suffering. No effort is being made to stop the fighting between the two sides,” said Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Alleging that the Centre is blind to the crisis, he warned that the situation will go out of hand if not resolved soon. “There is no trust between the two communities. There are two countries now — Kukiland and Meiteiland. They have no connection whatsoever with each other. We met the governor. She herself admitted the situation is bad,” he said.
Speaking to this newspaper, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi said that they witnessed heart-wrenching scenes during their visit to the relief camps. “We visited three relief camps packed with hundreds of people, mostly women and small children. They get meagre food. When it rains, the water comes inside and children fall sick,” she said, adding that people wanted them to speak in Parliament and tell the world about their ordeal.
TMC MP Sushmita Dev, who met two victims of sexual violence, said the women are convinced that the government is complicit. “They repeatedly said that when the police are part of a crime, they are not hopeful of justice from the administration and the CM. Even after their submission that the police were present at the crime scene, the CM did not order an inquiry,” said Dev, who was part of the delegation.
Trifurcate the state, says BJP lawmaker
Paolienlal Haokip, a Kuki leader and BJP MLA, said on Sunday that the only way forward in solving the situation in Manipur is by dividing the state into three Union Territories for Kukis, Meiteis and Nagas. “The way forward, as I see it, is for the Union government to give political and administrative recognition to the ethnic separation, where the state of Manipur is reorganised as three Union territories,” Haokip said in an interview with PTI.
Nisham Ismail