New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, attended a memorial gathering organised Thursday for Manipuri musician Chongtham Vikram Singh. Condemning Singh’s killing, Gandhi said the incident reflected “violence, hatred and arrogance,” adding that such behaviour had “become a fashion” these days.
Singh died after he was assaulted outside his residence in Kilokari in southeast Delhi by a group of men for objecting to their loud noise on 7 September.
The memorial, organised at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre here, was attended by senior Congress leaders, including Jairam Ramesh and Supriya Shrinate, as well as members of the Manipuri community. Musical performances were also held in Singh’s memory.
Addressing the gathering, Gandhi said, “It’s a tragedy that a young man has been murdered. It’s also a tragedy that he was attacked because of where he was from. It’s a tragedy for the people of Manipur. Of course, it’s not the only tragedy that the people of Manipur have been facing.”
He added, “Whether he (Singh) was killed or was not killed, there was violence in this act. There was violence, there was hatred, and there was arrogance. And it is something that has become a fashion these days, that if you are powerful, you can be violent.”
Watch: A Tribute to Chongtham Vikram Singh | Dr. Ambedkar International Center, Janpath, New Delhi https://t.co/g4XmfmTG0u
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 10, 2026
Gandhi also said the response to such an incident should not be anger or hatred.
He told the gathering, “So then the question arises: how do you respond to something like this? What I will say is, you don’t respond with anger, you don’t respond with hatred, because then you are doing exactly what was done to Vicky.
“But you respond just the way that you have responded: by expressing yourself, by defending the idea that you stand for, by showing the talent that you have, and by saying that we are not going to accept this nonsense.”
Gandhi also described Singh as a symbol of love and affection. “In politics and in life, symbols matter a lot. He is a symbol of love and affection,” he said.
The Congress leader went on to say that the assault on Singh should also be viewed against the backdrop of incidents involving other communities. “This is not a single incident. It happened every time. Not always does it end up in murder, sometimes there is insult or violence. This is happening with so many communities,” he said.
Singh was a prominent musician from Manipur and had been associated with multiple bands including Ultra Vires, Phoenix and Eastern Dark. He later moved to Delhi, where he had been working as a music teacher.
According to police, he stepped out of his house in Kilokari in southeast Delhi around 11.30 PM Monday to ask a group of men standing on the street to not make loud noises. An argument followed, after which he was allegedly chased into the building and assaulted. Singh’s son took him to the hospital where the musician died the following morning.
Delhi Police have arrested eight men in connection with the incident, and are investigating whether there was a racial angle to the assault.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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