New Delhi: Leaders of the Opposition’s 26-party INDIA bloc met President Droupadi Murmu Wednesday and submitted to her a memorandum on the situation in Manipur.
President Murmu has assured the leaders that she would think over it, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge told the media after the meeting.
Thirty-one leaders, including the 21 who visited Manipur last weekend, briefed the President about the nature of the crimes in the Northeast state, particularly against women, Kharge said.
“Our main demand is that the PM should visit Manipur and take steps towards restoring peace in the state,” Kharge said, adding, “Who is supplying so many sophisticated weapons to the people?”
The Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha also said they had spoken to the President about the recent communal clashes in Haryana.
Earlier Wednesday, the INDIA alliance leaders met in Kharge’s chamber in Parliament to chalk out the strategy ahead — more so, since their demand for a detailed discussion on the Manipur ethnic clashes had been rebuffed by the Centre.
The government has put forward a proposal for a short-term discussion and a statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while the Opposition wants a “comprehensive statement” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In order to force Modi to address Parliament, the Opposition has moved a no-confidence motion against the ruling government which will be taken up on 8 August. The Prime Minister is expected to reply to the motion on 10 August.
The Opposition does not have the numbers to threaten the government, but the point of bringing a no-trust vote was to force a detailed discussion on crucial matters in the country and a reply from the Prime Minister, leaders have said. They called it the “last weapon” in the case of Manipur.
Kharge said Wednesday that the Opposition was tired of bringing adjournment motions in the Parliament to discuss Manipur and that the no-confidence motion was its last resort.
“They even switched off my mike in two seconds…The ruling party does not want to walk the path of democracy,” Kharge added.
Last weekend, a delegation from the INDIA bloc visited Manipur, met community leaders and assessed the condition in relief camps. They met Governor Anusuiya Uikey and asked her to apprise the Union government of the “complete breakdown of law and order in Manipur for the last 89 days so as to enable them to intervene in the precarious situation in Manipur to restore peace and normalcy”.
In their memorandum to the Governor, the visiting MPs said, “Silence of the Hon’ble Prime Minister shows his brazen indifference to the violence in Manipur.”
Lambasting the “failure of both the central and state governments to protect the lives and properties”, it added, “From the reports of incessant firing and arson of houses in the last few days, it is established beyond doubt that the state machineries have completely failed to control the situation for the last almost three months.”
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court observed that there was a “complete breakdown of law and order and the constitutional machinery” in Manipur.
Hearing petitions over the crimes, including that against two Kuki women who were paraded naked and molested, the apex court sought details from the state government in a “tabulated format” – segregating cases involving murder, rape, arson and loot, destruction of house and property, places of worship, and outraging the modesty of women.
The bench also ordered the director general of police of Manipur to be present on Monday to answer its queries.
Violence ethnic clashes began in the state on 3 May and are continuing over the majority Meiteis’ demand for Scheduled Tribe status. The tag, which gives economic benefits, was so far reserved for the tribes in the state’s poorly-developed hill areas.