New Delhi: Alleging that the BJP’s “politics of hatred has burnt Manipur for over 40 days”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday demanded that an all-party delegation be sent to the Northeast state for restoring peace.
On Tuesday night, nine people were killed in the latest round of violence in Manipur. So far, at least 80 people have been killed and 40,000 displaced since early May in the ethnic clashes. The violence — which spread to both hill and valley districts — has led to the Kukis demanding a separate administration for hill areas of the state.
BJP’s politics of hatred has burnt Manipur for over 40 days leaving more than a hundred people dead.
The PM has failed India and is completely silent.
An all-party delegation must be sent to the state to end this cycle of violence & restore peace.
Let’s shut this ‘Nafrat ka…
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 15, 2023
His remarks came hours after the Congress party sought a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into an alleged deal struck between BJP leaders and Kuki militant groups ahead of the 2017 state election.
A report by India Today NE cited a letter by the chairman of a Kuki militant outfit in which he claimed that his outfit, along with another signatory to the Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement, helped the BJP come to power in Manipur in 2017, and win seats in the 2019 general election and the 2022 assembly polls.
This, the Kuki militant leader alleged, was part of a deal involving the outfits, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma — convener of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a political alliance formed by the BJP — and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) national executive member Ram Madhav.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar dubbed the BJP an “anti-national” organisation. “What were their (BJP’s) relations with various militant outfits?”
“He said in a video that he helped Ram Madhav, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Amit Shah during the (2022) elections,” Kumar said, referring to United Kuki Liberation Front chairman S.S. Haokip.
“Voting was held in January 2022. In February 2022, Amit Shah released Rs 15 crore of your (taxpayers’) money to Kuki militant outfits. Rs 15 crore was given to the militant organisation (by Shah) plus Rs 97 lakh,” he alleged at a press conference in Delhi.
Kumar also questioned the BJP government in Manipur over its alleged ties with Pramod Singh — a former Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member-turned-member of a Meitiei militant organisation. “He (Singh) says we are not with Biren Singh and BJP, but our goal is the same. They gave five lakh rounds of bullets to this (militant) group. They were invited to take arms,” he alleged
The Congress leader asked the Biren Singh-led BJP government whether it “compromised with national security to win elections” by supplying weapons to extremist groups.
“Why can’t we ask Ram Madhav how much money was given to the Kuki militant organisation? Why is Modi not going? Why is Amit Shah campaigning and not going? Why are 50,000 people homeless?”
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of Sikkim, Tripura and Nagaland further dubbed the BJP as “Bharat Jalao Party” and attacked the prime minister for not visiting the state.
“What was Modi ji doing when Manipur was burning. He was holding a meeting about Gujarat cyclones. What was Amit Shah doing? He was in Visakhapatnam. He was campaigning,” Kumar told reporters.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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