Dr Bimol takes up Manipur issue at AICC meet
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, April 09 2025:
The BJP government is continuing to treat the Manipur crisis like nothing although it has already become an international issue, stated Lok Sabha MP Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam.
Speaking at the two-day 84th All India Congress Committee (AICC) session held on the theme "Nyaypath: Sankalp, Samarpan or Sangharsh" in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which commenced on Tuesday, Dr Bimol noted that the tragedy in Manipur has taught us many lessons, the biggest being what this nation is truly about.
"Some have even begun thinking that Manipur is not a part of India and as such, anything that happens in Manipur is not worthy of being considered as a national issue" .
He continued that while the PM has travelled the world over and other states in the country, he is yet to visit Manipur, thereby signifying that the PM believes that whatever tragedy may happen in Manipur, it has nothing to do with him (PM).
This attitude is deeply ingrained in this government, Bimol remarked.
Reflecting on the central government's continuous attempts to project the crisis as a simple conflict between two communities, the MP stated that despite having a double engine government, over 250 people have been killed and over 60,000 displaced are still languishing in different relief camps.
"If such a tragedy had occurred in Gujarat, Delhi or Rajasthan, would they have continued to ignore the situation to this extent?" he wondered, reiterating that the present situation is because the government considers Manipur not a part of India.
Dr Bimol then said that the present situation is not just about Manipur.
"We need to understand the overall imagination of what this nation is about.
Speaking on the floor of the parliament, Rahul Gandhi had stated that India is a union of states.
It is formed by different languages, religions and political formations.
Such inclusive idea of India of Congress is far different from the other's ideology which looks forward to flattening the diversity," the MP remarked.
Mentioning that BJP does not have a single Muslim member to represent in the parliament although 15 per cent of the population is from the Muslim community, the MP said that this is neither surprising nor anything new.
He recounted that when Mahatma Gandhi was president of the Indian National Congress in 1924, the RSS was formed in Nagpur the next year due to differing ideologies.
This competing ideology continued to challenge the imagination of nationhood.
After struggling for 100 years, they announced that the nation finally achieved independence when PM Modi took over in 2014, recounted the MP.
Stressing the need for all those who believe in unity and diversity to stand against such ideology, Dr Bimol called for strengthening the party and remembering that the people and the nation are far more important than the party.
Quoting BR Ambedkar that "the party must keep the people in front and the people's interests must be served by the party", Dr Bimol remarked that the tragedy of Manipur is a clear signal of that kind of orientation where the diversity, the nation and governance holds no importance.
"We should never forget that despite the presence of a double engine government, hundreds of people have lost their lives and thousands left homeless," he reiterated.
"The hands of those running this government are stained with the bloods of all those who died in Manipur," he remarked.
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