Leaders of different political parties, including the BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, Left parties and others participated in an all-party meeting convened by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the prevailing situation in Manipur on Saturday.
Shah called for the meeting to assess the situation, weeks after he visited the violence-hit state for four days and met with a cross section of people in his efforts to broker peace in Manipur.
Speaking to the press after the meeting concluded in Delhi, BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra said all political parties who attended the meeting expressed their views during the all-party meeting, unanimously acknowledging the unprecedented nature of Amit Shah’s visit to Manipur. “Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is briefed every day on the evolving situation in the state,” he added.
He further said, “A 10km fence has been erected along the Myanmar border to curb infiltration and additional measures are being implemented. Many of the infiltrators were youth who voluntarily surrendered their weapons to the local police. We have considered all suggestions from various political parties and appropriate steps will be taken in the right direction.”
According to PTI news agency, Shah told the meeting the situation in Manipur was slowly returning to normal and not a deaths have been reported since June 13 in the state.
The home minister sought the cooperation of all the political parties to help defuse the situation and restore peace and trust among various communities in Manipur.
“The priority of the Modi government is that no more lives should be lost due to violence in the state,” Shah was quoted as saying.
DMK MP Tiruchi Siva, addressing the media after attending the all-party meeting, said, “We expressed our concern about the ongoing incidents in Manipur spanning over 50 days. The Home Minister patiently heard each of us and assured us that he is actively addressing the issue. He said, ‘Trust me, I will restore peace.’
“However, the Prime Minister has not conveyed his concerns,” he said. “We requested the need for an all-party delegation to be sent to Manipur. The Home Minister responded by mentioning the deployment of additional police forces, which was our suggestion. However, this is not merely a law and order issue to be resolved solely by the police, army, or Assam Rifles,” Siva said.
“It signifies the failure of governance at both the state and union government levels,” he added.
During the all-party meeting, the Congress was not given the opportunity to speak first, even though Ibobi Singh from Manipur represented them. Opposition parties, including the TMC, raised this concern and requested that the next meeting should take place in Imphal, according to sources. “The government assured that progress was being made to address the situation,” they said.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh called the all-party meeting “an eye-wash and a formality,” and criticised the government for not allowing 3-time elected Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh to present his points.
“As the principal Opposition party, our representative the senior most leader from Manipur, 3-time elected CM Okram Ibobi Singh, was not allowed to present his points representing the pain and anguish of the people of Manipur,” he said in a tweet.
With inputs from News18