Manipur: MP questions govt's silence on Manipur

NEW DELHI: In a fiery speech, first-time Congress MP from Inner Manipur A Bimol Akoijam expressed anguish over the absence of any reference to ethnic violence-hit Manipur in Speaker Droupadi Murmu’s speech.

During the Lok Sabha debate on the motion of thanks for the President’s speech, he was the last to speak on Monday evening. The JNU professor, in an emotional speech, drew attention to the 60,000 people who have been living in “deplorable conditions” in relief camps for the past one year.

Expressing the concerns of the people of Manipur, Akoijam said, “Pain, anger has pushed a nobody like me to be a part of this temple of democracy, by defeating the BJP cabinet minister. Think of the pain,” said Akoijam, who defeated Union minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh in the polls.

“Our Prime Minister is silent and the President’s speech did not mention this. This silence is not right,” he said. “Does this silence indicate to the people of the Northeast, and especially Manipur, that you have no importance in the scheme of the Indian state?” he asked, questioning the credibility of a “nationalist party like the BJP” in the Manipur tragedy.

He told the House that over 200 people had died and a civil war situation had set in, while the Indian state had “remained a mute spectator” for a year. “Keep your hands on your heart and think of the homeless, the mothers and the widows. Think of them and then talk about nationalism,” he said.