Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, December 17 2010:
The recent two days visit by Home Minister P Chidambaram was not an important and significant visit said BJP Manipur Pardesh president Shantikumar Sharma.
The act of gagging the people of Manipur by not allowing them to speak freely was most unfortunate conveyed the party president at a press conference today.
He said that the party made a formal written request to the state home department seeking a meeting with the home minister, however there was no response.
If the union home minister was not here to meet the people of Manipur, whom did he come to meet here, asked the party president.
He said that even the fourth pillar of a democratic state � media was not spared by the union home minister in his visit.
The way the representatives of AMWJU, who went to meet Chidambaram at Raj Bhawan, were not allowed to ask questions amounted to humiliation of the press.
The BJP Manipur Pradesh condemned this act.
It was the first time that journalists were not allowed to speak in an interaction with the home minister who is next to the prime minister of the country.
Saying that the law and order situation in Manipur has improved and that the territorial integrity of Manipur will be honoured without meeting the members of civil society organosations and political parties is hypocrisy, said the party president.
On the day of the home minister's visit pulling down
Incidents during the home minister's visit like the pulling down of bags of rice at Noney by cadres of NSCN IM, which is at present holding peace talk with the central government, the brutal killing of a woman at Churachandpur, kidnapping of drivers etc, are these examples of improved law and order, asked the party president.
The holding of peace talk with NSCN IM and tripartite talks with UNC; the talks with those demanding Kuki homeland, are these steps to safeguard Manipur's territorial integrity? He asked what was the real agenda behind the home minister's visit to the state.
The party president said that it cannot consider the home minister's visit as a benevolent visit looking at how students taking part in the interaction programme at GP Women's college were not allowed to ask their own questions but rather forced to ask the ones the teachers framed.
Former minister and spokesperson of the party Salam Ibohal who also took part in the press conference said that the confusions on burning issues like the arrest of UNLF chairman RK Meghen, AFSPA, Irom Sharmila's long continuing fast, not giving proper opportunity for the people to meet and interact, given all these facts which insurgent group will come out for political dialogue.
This showed the insincerity of the government of India.