MIYC censures PM's speech in RS
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 05 2024: While hailing Dr Bimol Akoijam's fiery and passionate speech in the Parliament, the Manipur International Youth Centre (MIYC) has come down heavily on the speech given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Manipur crisis in the Rajya Sabha.

The speech of Dr Bimol Akoijam compelled the Prime Minister to break his year long silence on Manipur but Narendra Modi's turned out to be like opening a Pandora's Box, the MIYC remarked in a statement.

The speech that mentioned about the 500 arrests and 11,000 FIRs registered in Manipur has apparently rendered a psychological threat to the civilian populace.

Government is not solely established to punish and target its own civilians but to defend and counter the invasive external aggression that disrupts the harmony of Manipur as remarked by S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India and Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India, the MIYC said.

In his entire speech in the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister never mentioned about the ethnic cleansing of the Meiteis, resettlement of the internally displaced people, the partisan role of the Indian armed forces, burning down of religious sites and about the initiation of any reconciliation process among the warring communities, it said.

The MIYC asserted that the continuous attack on Meiteis and other communities by Kuki armed groups occurs intensively in heavily militarized areas, particularly the places where the Indian armed forces are stationed.

Appointing Kuldiep Singh (former DG, CRPF) as the Security Advisor to resolve the conflict has turned out to be another hurdle on the lives of the indigenous Meiteis, with a series of human rights violations inflicted upon the struggling women and students, it said.

Rendering established democratic institutions of the State dysfunctional in time of crisis amounts to tainting the federal structure that symbolizes Indian democracy.

Subsequently, the democratic principles and the election process that allow people to choose their leaders serve no purpose as no power is delegated to the elected leaders of the State, it said.

As this character has existed for decades, it has become a habit to form a Central-centric State Government on the soil of Manipur without any concern for the people of Manipur.

The speech of Dr Bimol Akoijam that contested the whole projection of Indian Nationalism reflects the malfunctioning of State's ownership and the fallen federalism in the Indian polity, particularly in the entire Northeast.

His voice represents the redemption of State's authority and fulfilling the people's desire for rebuilding the idea of Manipur that has been fractured since long and the building of a unified force in India's North East, it asserted.

The voice that Dr Bimol Akoijam raised in the Indian Parliament goes beyond party lines and carries a voice of the unheard on his shoulders encompassing the entire North East region and Manipur, it said.

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