"Heartless Government": Opposition Corners Centre Over Manipur In Parliament

In a scathing attack on a 'heartless' central government during a debate on the Opposition's no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy on Tuesday said they sent a delegation to West Bengal to inquire into the violence during and after the recent panchayat electons, no similar fact-finding team was sent to Manipur amid the ethnic clashes.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, who had tabled the motion of no confidence against the Centre in the Lower House and was part of the delegation of Opposition members to Manipur recently, initiated the debate on Tuesday.

Rising to address the Lower House, on behalf of the Opposition, during a debate on the no-trust motion, the TMC MP said, "This is a heartless government. They can send delegation to West Bengal on any pretext but not one to Manipur where our brothers and sisters are falling prey to violence. Those ruling the country have no compassion which is why they haven't sent delegation to Manipur unlike the Opposition parties."

Echoing the refrain, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule demanded the resignation of the Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh for failing to rein in the runaway violence and restore peace in the Northeast state.

"I demand that the CM step down immediately owning responsibility for the failure to restore peace and order in Manipur. As many as 10,000 cases of rioting, murder and rape have been filed in the state (since the violence erupted). Have we become so insensitive? This is the problem with this government," the NCP leader said.

Also addressing the Lower House during the debate on the motion of no confidence against the Centre, DMK MP TR Baalu alleged that while minorities in Manipur were killed 'ruthlessly', Prime Minister Narendra Modi could neither come to Parliament to make a statement nor visit the Northeast state.

"The minorities in Manipur were killed ruthlessly. As many as 143 people were killed while another 65,000 people were either displaced or fled the state in light of the violence. Two women were stripped, gang-raped and paraded naked on the streets of Manipur and the CM was helpless. The PM has, not once, come to the Parliament to make a statement and neither has he visited Manipur till date.

However, the members of I.N.D.I.A visited Manipur and took stock of the plight of displaced locals in the state," Mr Baalu said.

Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav also questioned the Treasury over the Manipur situation, saying, "Is Manipur not part of our country? All that the BJP does is indulge in hate politics."

"Across the world, this (Manipur violence and the Centre's alleged failure to deal with it) has been condemned. The state is experiencing the gory fallout of state-sponsored ethnic violence. The PM must come to the House so that the issues concerning Manipur can be brought to his notice," the SP MP, who also happens to be the wife of party chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, said.

Earlier, initiating the debate on the Opposition's no-trust motion against the Centre, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said Prime Minister Modi has to accept that his 'double-engine government' in Manipur has failed.

"The PM needs to accept that the BJP's double-engine government in Manipur has failed. This is why 150 people have died in Manipur, about 5,000 houses have been torched, about 60,000 people, displaced by the violence, are in relief camps and about 6,500 FIRs have been registered till date," Mr Gogoi said.

He added that I.N.D.I.A. brought the no-trust motion in the interest of justice for the people of Manipur.

"The state's CM, instead of taking proactive steps to create an ambience for talks, as well as the restoration of peace and harmony, has made certain insinuations over the past few days resulting in further tension," the Congress MP told the Lok Sabha.

"We are compelled to bring a no-confidence motion (against the Centre). This was never about numbers but about justice for Manipur. I moved the motion that this House has lost confidence in the government. I.N.D.I.A brought this motion for Manipur. Manipur wants justice," Mr Gogoi said.

YSRCP, Shiv Sena, JDU, BJD, BSP, BRS and LJP were allotted a total of 2 hours for addressing the House during the debate. The time allotted was divided in accordance with the numerical strength of each party in the Lower House. A time limit of 1 hour 10 minutes was allotted for other parties and independent MPs.

Manipur had been on the boil for the last three months after ethnic clashes broke out between the Meities and Kukis in light of the Manipur High Court asking the state government to consider adding the Meiteis to the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs).

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)