New Delhi: A first-time Congress MP from Manipur compared the northeast state’s ongoing ethnic unrest with the violence of India’s Partition during his debut speech in the Lok Sabha Monday. Lawmaker from the Inner Manipur constituency Angomcha Bimol Akoijam also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the year-long turmoil, and his “inability” to address the people’s suffering.
“I will keep quiet the moment the Prime Minister opens his mouth and a nationalist party says that Manipur is a part of India and we care for its people. Only then will I accept what nationalism is,” Akoijam remarked while participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address that continued close to midnight.
Akoijam, who taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University before joining politics, said the Indian state had been a “mute spectator” to the events unfolding in Manipur.
“Sixty thousand people being homeless is not a joke; more than 200 people have died, and there has been a civil-war situation… people are armed to the teeth and running around defending their villages. The Indian state has been a mute spectator to this tragedy for one year,” he said.
According to figures provided by the state’s Governor Anusuiya Uikey, the ethnic violence in Manipur has led to the deaths of 219 people and displaced 60,000 since 3 May last year.
The MP rued that the President’s first address to the 18th Lok Sabha did not mention Manipur despite it being one of the most militarised areas in the country.
“Every centimetre of Manipur is covered by central armed forces, 60,000 are homeless and thousands of villages destroyed… yet no mention,” he said, adding this was a reminder of the “continuity between the colonial and post-colonial periods”.
The Manipur MP pointed out the irony of addressing such a crucial issue late at night, noting that Manipur was effectively two hours ahead of Delhi. He remarked, “We have been dancing to the tune of New Delhi,” highlighting that individuals like Jahnu Barua had long advocated for a separate time zone for the Northeast.
“I must ask this question to the House. Is this silence communicating to the people of the Northeast, and Manipur in particular, that you don’t matter in the Indian scheme of things?” Akoijam asked.
He also cited the significant contributions of the people of Manipur in protecting the nation and earning honours for it. “Major Lysham Jotin, who was awarded the Ashok Chakra while grappling with a suicide bomber, was a Manipuri. You are dishonouring his state. Major Nangum Joydatta, who was awarded the Vir Chakra while doing his duty as part of the peacekeeping force in Sri Lanka in 1987… you are dishonouring this man. You are dishonouring the youth who hold the tricolour on international platforms,” Akoijam said.
He also said that ignoring the crisis in Manipur was tantamount to disrepecting the achievements of its luminaries such as Mary Kom, Kunjarani, Laishram Sarita, Mirabai Chanu, Ratan Thiyam, and Aribam Shyam Sharma.
Jharkhand BJP MP Nishikant Dubey got up to intervene, pointing out that his party had given a ticket to world champion boxer Mary Kom. He held the Congress responsible for what was happening in Manipur. “We gave a Sports University to Manipur. My uncle was shot in Manipur; he was the DIG of the CRPF. You don’t know martyrdom,” Dubey said.
To this Akoijam responded, “Can you negate the fact that we are talking about the inclusion of Northeast history after 75 years of Independence? That’s a classic exclusion.”
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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