Delhi treating us like second class citizens : MP
National convention of AICC at Ahmedabad
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 09 2025: Manipur and her people have not been considered as a part of India, and despite the present crisis having National and international implications, it has not been treated as such and is ignored by the Government, said Lok Sabha MP Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam.

Dr Bimol was speaking at the 84th National convention of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) at Ahmedabad yesterday when he came down heavily on the BJP Government for its poor handling of the crisis and allowing it to continue for over 1 year and 11 months since May 3, 2023 .

Delhi treating us like second class citizens : MP

Addressing the convention, Dr Bimol said the Manipur crisis has taught lessons about what the Nation is all about and how Manipur has been neglected.

He said that the people of Manipur have not been considered as citizens of this country, and the Government doesn't care about them.

Since the conflict started on May 3, 2023, the Prime Minister has not once visited Manipur, he said.

He has toured the world and visited every place, but he has not yet visited Manipur as a Prime Minister of this country, and this reflects the dismissive attitude of the Government towards Manipur, Dr Bimol said.

He asserted that this dismissive attitude is deeply ingrained in the BJP Government, and is whitewashing the crisis as simply a crisis between two communities.

Despite the presence of the "double engine Government", more than 250 people have been killed and over 60,000 have been rendered homeless, who are now languishing in relief camps, Dr Bimol said.

Despite the toll the crisis has had on Manipur, the Government has not considered this crisis as a National issue, he added.

"Had it happened in UP, Gurjarat, Delhi or Rajasthan, would they be able to ignore it and allow it to happen? In their minds, Manipur is not part of India," Dr Bimol asserted.

Surprisingly, this attitude of the Government and its thinking is "not new", he said, asserting that the BJP's imagination of the Nation threatens inclusivity and diversity.

Congress' imagination of the country is inclusive and the party believes that India is a union of States.

This ideal differs from the BJP's Nationalist idea, which threatens to flatten diversity, Dr Bimol said.

The BJP doesn't have a single Muslim MP in the Parliament, despite the community having a 15 percent representation in the Parliament, he said.

"The tragedy of Manipur is a clear signal of a kind of an orientation where you don't care for diversity and what this Nation is about," Dr Bimol said.

They (Government) are trying to present as if all the crises, all the deaths were because of two communities' problems.

Fact is, the Constitution was there and the double engine was there.

Nonetheless, people died and thousands became homeless, he said.

"The hands of those who are running this Government are stained with the blood of those people in Manipur," Dr Bimol said.

A party must keep the people in front, and people's interests must be served by the party, he added.

The AICC National Convention was attended by Congress workers from across the country.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi among other prominent leaders of the Congress attended the convention.