20 MPs of INDIA arrive today to assess situation
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, July 28 2023: To take stock of the prevailing tension and conflict situation in the state, altogether 20 MPs of INDIA, which is an alliance of the opposition parties, will he arriving here on Saturday.

Ihe MPs are expected to land at Imphal airport at 12 noon and likely to visit relief camps at Churachandpur, Moirang and Imphal and interact with inmates on the first day of their two-day visit to the state.

The team will hold talks with leaders of both the warring sides and collect actual ground realities.

The team comprises INC's Adhir Ran jan Chowdury, Phulo Devi Netam and Gaurav Gogoi, Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh of JDU, Sushmita Dev of TMC, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi of DMK, Sandosh Kumar P of CPI, AA Rahim of CPI(M), professor Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD, Javed Ah Khan of SP, Mahua Maji of JMM, PP Mohammed Faizal of NCP, Aneel Kumar Prasad Hegde of Jflt J, ET Mohammed Basheer of IUML, NK Premacharan of RSP, Sushil Gupta of AAP, Arvind Sawant of Shiv Sena, D Ravikumar of VCK, Thiru Thol Thiruva lavan of VCK and Jayant Singh of RLD.

Regarding the visit of INDIA MPs, MPCC president K Meghachandra told media persons that unceasing violence since May 3 and inability of both the state and central governments to contain the violence compelled the opposition MPs to visit Manipur.

The delegation will hold talks with both the sides to bring peace and normalcy apart from sharing pain and suffering of the people of the state, he said.

Regarding convening special session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, Meghachandra said the assembly should serve as a big platform in the efforts to bring peace and normalcy in the state and it would be better if the session is convened at the earliest considering urgency of the issue instead of convening in the third week of August as proposed by the government.

He said that Congress party has been demanding special session of the assembly and memoranda in this regard had been submitted to the Governor three times.

Ahead of the visit, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi called for an inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge into the violence in Manipur.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Congress MP and whip in Rajya Sabha Naseer Hussain said the MPs from 16 parties would visit the affected areas and people both in the valley and the hills.

They would also visit two relief camps in both the places and assess the situation themselves.

Sources said the opposition bloc had written to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who allowed the delegation to visit the state.

The delegation would be meeting Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey on Sunday morning, Hussain said.

The Congress leader said the MPs have sought to use helicopters there and if allowed, they will be able to visit the far-flung areas of Churachandpur, where fresh violence has taken place.

"We have got permissions from the state government to visit the affected areas as also the relief camps.

We have also got permission to meet the Governor, who has allowed time to the delegation on Sunday," Hussain told reporters.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA have neither the will nor the ability to resolve the Manipur violence," he said, adding that ever since the Monsoon session of Parliament started, the opposition has been continuously demanding a discussion on Manipur.

"PM Modi should come to Parliament and give a statement and prepare a roadmap for peace in Manipur," he asserted.

Meanwhile, Gaurav Gogoi said, "The BJP wants to give the picture that everything is fine in Manipur but it is not so with violence continuing.

That is why we want that an inquiry should be conducted under a retired Supreme Court judge as to how did the state government fail, how did people got access to weapons in this quantity, what was the administration doing" .

"The chief minister (N Biren Singh) himself admits that there are more than 100 FIRs.

Why was the administration sleeping for two months.

There should be an inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge and all INDIA'(Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) MPs will go to Manipur and find out the truth and will put forward that truth before Parliament," he told PTI outside Parliament.

Trinamool Congress' Dev said the opposition delegation wants to give the message that "we are with the people of Manipur" .

"We are concerned, we want peace to return...the government has failed, so we want to go there and see what solution can be found," she said.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhag-am (DMK) leader T R Baalu said the opposition delegation will find out what went wrong, the extent of damage and loss of lives and property.

Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader Prem-chandran said the intent of the visit is to have a firsthand information about the happenings in the state.

The violence is still going on so we would like to have first hand information and suggest some solutions and recommendations to the government and Parliament before the discussion comes there, " he said.

"We would like to visit the relief camps regarding rehabilitation of the victims.

What is the real cause of the violence, we want to find out, "he said.

Congress leader Naseer Hussain alleged that massacres, violence and rapes are happening in Manipur for the last 86 days.

On Friday too, he said, 47 MPs have given notice under rule 267 demanding a discussion, but the discussion is not happening in either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.

"Instead of talking on Manipur, PM Modi is giving advice to the chief ministers of other states.

Our demand is that the prime minister should come to the House and discuss Manipur," he said.

Hussain alleged that weapons looted from government armouries are being found in houses in Manipur and added this is a matter of national security.

The opposition bloc had been demanding that a delegation of their leaders be allowed to visit the state but till now they had been denied permission in view of the situation there.

The opposition has been demanding a statement from the prime minister in Parliament on the situation in ethnic strife-torn Manipur followed by a full-fledged discussion on it.

The northeastern state of Manipur has been engulfed in ethnic violence since May 3, in which more than 160 people have lost their lives.

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