Imphal (Manipur) [India], September 22 (ANI): Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Keisham Meghachandra Singh on Tuesday condemned the recent killing of a 17-year-old Liangmai Naga youth, accusing the central government’s political leadership of enabling violence and operating as “silent spectators.
Speaking to ANI, Singh criticised the government over the lack of dialogue between ethnic communities and emphasised that all the political power leaders are supporting their respective community leaders, further noting that they should stay above violence.
“Incidents of killings have been happening now and then. The killing of a young Liangmai is part of the continued process in Manipur. I strongly condemn this. Govt is not doing anything. Naga lives matter. Kuki lives matter. Meitei lives matter. Every life matters in Manipur. But under this Govt, every political power is supporting its own armed group. Every political leader is supporting their own community leaders. All political leaders should be above violence. There is no initiative for dialogue within the communities. The government is a silent spectator to whatever happens. The violence of Kukis vs Nagas vs Meitei is not the future of Manipur,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking on the incident, Congress leader Udit Raj questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s global travels in contrast to his absence from the crisis-ridden Manipur.
“You can travel all across the world, but do you consider Manipur, which is an integral part of India, a state of India or not?” Udit Raj asked.
He further criticised the Prime Minister for being unable to establish peace over the years. He noted that tens of thousands of residents remain uprooted from their homes without effective central intervention or political dialogue to restore harmony.
“Ever since the situation in Manipur worsened, it has not returned to normal to this day. Incidents occur there on a daily basis. When nearly 60,000 people were displaced, even then the Prime Minister did not visit, nor did he make any major appeal or make significant arrangements to establish peace and harmony between the two communities. Now, when a 17-year-old girl was shot, it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference to PM Modi or the BJP,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, a large number of women held a massive torch rally in Imphal, demanding an immediate update to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) with 1951 as the base year. The demonstration saw heavy police and security deployment to maintain public order. (ANI)
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