Amit Shah, Biren making contradictory statements: Cong
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 17 2024:
Opposition Congress has accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister N Biren of making contradictory statements on the Manipur crisis instead of working sincerely to resolve the crisis.
Speaking to media persons at Congress Bhavan, BT Road here today, Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Keisam Meghachandra observed that both Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister N Biren have been changing their statements every now and then on the 19 months old Manipur crisis which erupted on May 3, 2023 .
Earlier, Amit Shah stated on the floor of the Parliament that the High Court of Manipur's order on the demand of a particular community for Scheduled Tribe status was the cause of the violent crisis.
Afterward Amit Shah told both the Parliament and media that the Manipur crisis was caused by illegal immigrants.
Recently in an exclusive interview to the India Today, Amit Shah claimed that the Manipur crisis is an ethnic conflict.
It is rather unfortunate that the Union Home Minister has been making self-contradictory and confusing statements every now and then on the cause of the Manipur crisis, Meghachandra said.
Such contradictory statements have been only multiplying people's anguish instead of resolving it, he said.
The Union Home Minister's statement that the Manipur violence is an ethnic conflict reveals the fact that the BJP Government has no clear roadmap to resolve the crisis and restore peace in Manipur, the MPCC president asserted.
Just like Amit Shah, Chief Minister N Biren's statements on the root causes of the Manipur crisis have been changing quite often, Meghachandra said.
During the initial days of the crisis, N Biren said that the violence was a result of law and order failure and intelligence lapses, he said.
The Chief Minister's statement, who is also in charge of the Home Department, that he did not receive any intelligence report in the last 15 months is extremely surprising.
Speaking at a Vijay Diwas celebration held at 1st MR banquet hall on Monday, N Biren said that he did not receive any intelligence reports in the last 15 months, the cyber crime has failed and the Manipur crisis was caused by illegal immigrants.
All these statements are self-contradictory and confusing, Meghachandra remarked.
N Biren's statements gave the impression that he does not know what a Chief Minister or a Home Minister can do on matters related to a State's law and order.
It appeared that N Biren does not know whether he is in charge of the Home Department or not, he asserted.
Meghachandra went on to ask what Chief Minister N Biren did when intelligence agencies which are under the Home Department did not share any intelligence report with him in the last 15 months.
Commenting on the Chief Minister's statement that some agencies have been sending wrong reports on the Manipur crisis to the Centre, the MPCC president further asked the names of those agencies.
"Are they Central agencies or State agencies?", he asked and urged N Biren to name those agencies.
He also asked why the Chief Minister did not do anything for such a long time when those Central agencies were sending false reports to the Centre.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has completely changed the statement he gave on the Manipur crisis during its initial days.
With Amit Shah now claiming that the violence is a result of ethnic conflict, there is a sharp contradiction between the Union Home Minister and the Chief Minister on the cause of the Manipur crisis, the MPCC president pointed out.
At the same time, Amit Shah's completely changed statement on the cause of the Manipur crisis has evoked a number of serious questions.
It raises a serious question which direction the violent crisis will take and how peace will be restored in Manipur.
People have lost all hope that the BJP Government will bring peace any time soon, he said.
All Government departments are becoming paralysed and it has been quite a long time since people have not had any peace of mind.
All sections of people are now enduring extreme financial difficulties and the education sector too has been seriously affected, he said.
The most recent statement of the Union Home Minister and his actions till date revealed that the Centre has not yet taken the Manipur crisis with any seriousness.
The Government of India does not see the people's suffering and the Government leaders have no empathy for the people languishing in relief camps for so many months, he said.
On the other hand, Ministers and ruling MLAs of the State Government led by Chief Minister N Biren have not yet bothered to come together and work collectively in order to bring a solution to the protracted crisis, the MPCC president said.
It appears that there is a deep chasm among them and some of the Ministers and ruling MLAs have started speaking openly against the Chief Minister.
At the same time, Kuki Ministers and MLAs belonging to the ruling parties have been openly challenging the integrity of Manipur by demanding Separate Administration, he pointed out.
While the Centre remains totally indifferent, the State Government has not done anything tangible to bring an end to the" crisis, he said.
The State's economy has been so badly affected by the protracted crisis that some people have started looting even Rs 1000.At the same time, funds sanctioned for several Central sponsored schemes are being misused, Meghachandra said.
For fear of persecution, people are unable to speak against the Government's wrong deeds, he added.
MPCC vice president M Hareshwar Goswami and senior spokesman N Bhupenda were also present at the press meet.
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