NEW DELHI: Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that the incidents in Manipur are shameful and that the government has no intention to change the demography of the Northeast state.
He also appealed to all the ethnic groups to shun violence and look for a peaceful solution to the problem by talking to the Central government.
“I agree with the opposition about the violence that has happened there. It is shameful, but it is all the more shameful to politicise it,” he said.
Shah said at the same time that had the video been shared with the state’s DGP or the police on time, then action would have been taken against the perpetrators at the earliest.
The Home Minister wondered why the video was leaked just a day before the commencement of the monsoon session.
He also urged the ethnic groups to talk to the Central government and look for a peaceful solution to the strife-torn situation prevailing there.
Participating in the discussion on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, the Home Minister attacked the Congress-led opposition, saying that the most instances of ethnic and communal violence and riots took place during the reigns of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi.
He even listed out all such incidents of the past several years and went on to add that in 1993 and 1997, when ethnic violence had broken out in Manipur, no discussion took place in Parliament during the first instance, and when it did take place at the time of the second incident, only the Minister of State for Home replied to the discussion.
Shah said no prime minister or home minister had visited Manipur during those occasions; however, he had himself stayed there for three days and his junior minister, Nityanand Rai, stayed there for 23 days.
“I was the first Home Minister ever to do so,” he said.
Shah also blamed Rahul Gandhi for playing politics on the Manipur issue.
After his more than two-hour long speech, Shah requested through the Speaker that the Lok Sabha pass a resolution to seek peace in the state.
Leader of the Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury opposed this proposal, saying that their only demand was that the Prime Minister come to the House and speak on Manipur.
The House, however, passed the resolution by voice vote after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that as the Home Minister has already spoken on the matter and tomorrow the Prime Minister will reply to the motion, the resolution for peace in Manipur should be passed.
Earlier, the Home Minister, in an all-out attack on the Congress, said that while the erstwhile UPA regime was steeped in scams, the NDA had only done politics of development for 15 years (including six years of the Vajpayee government).
“That’s why you felt the need to change the name of your alliance to India from UPA, while we don’t feel any such need to do so,” Shah retorted.
He even listed out a long list of scams that had taken place during the erstwhile UPA regime, which were gleefully echoed by the Treasury benches.
Chowdhury tried to intervene several times, but Shah quieted him by saying that his own party had not given him time to speak on the no-confidence motion.
Shah also explained the genesis of the Manipur violence and explained how, due to the increasing Kuki population in the state owing to their exodus from neighbouring Myanmar, tensions had been rising between Meiteis and Kukis there.
The simmering tensions of the past several months culminated in the eruption of violence in May, he said.
Shah also informed the House that violence has gradually ebbed in Manipur, and out of the 152 dead, 101 died in May itself, while the number of casualties has decreased since June.
He also elaborated on various measures taken by the government to normalise the situation there, adding that the Chief Secretary and the DGP have been replaced while those who made the video have been caught.
On the opposition’s question about why the Chief Minister was not replaced, Shah said that this was because he was cooperating with the Centre.
The Home Minister also explained in detail all the welfare schemes launched by the government in the past nine years of the NDA government.
Attacking Rahul Gandhi, Shah said that he was a politician who had been launched 13 times in politics.
Referring to Gandhi’s visit to a Dalit woman’s house during the UPA regime, Shah said that while the Congress leader only elaborated on her travails, it was the NDA government that provided her with electricity, a toilet, and a house when it came to power.
He also targeted India’s alliance partners, the SP and NCP, saying that while both SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi had described the COVID vaccine as the Modi vaccine, Sharad Pawar had toppled the Maharashtra government with support from Jan Sangh.
He ridiculed the opposition for criticising the Prime Minister, saying that he was one of the most popular prime ministers in the history of the country, adding that while the opposition may not have confidence in the government, the people have confidence in the government and that the NDA will again come back to power in 2024. (IANS)
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