"Need Peace"- Rahul Gandhi After Visit of Relief Camps in Manipur
- By Thetripurapost Desk, Guwahati, Imphal
- Jul 08, 2024
- 364
Congress MP and Leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi visited Assam-Manipur on Monday (July 8). He met the flood victims of Assam and the victims of Manipur violence. Rahul also met the state Governor Anusuiya Uikey and submitted his letter on the situation in Manipur.
Rahul had a discussion with the Governor for more than half an hour. After this, Rahul reached the party office and expressed concern over the situation in Manipur by holding a press conference there.
Rahul said that this is my third visit to Manipur. I thought that the situation here would have improved, but nothing like that has happened. There is no improvement at the ground level. The central government is not at all sensitive towards Manipur. I do not think that the situation here will improve.
Rahul said that I went to the relief camp and listened to the people affected by the violence. I met people and assured them. I just want to say that hatred will not solve anything. I have not come to talk about politics. I spoke to the governor. I told him that Congress will do whatever it can.
Rahul further said that I request the PM to take out a day or two and come to Manipur. He should try to understand what is happening here. The whole country and the people of Manipur also want him to come here and understand the problems of the people.
Rahul Gandhi first reached Silchar-Cachar in Assam at 10 am. He visited the relief camp at Thalai Inn Youth Care Center in Phulertal.
He reached Jiribam at 12 noon. He met the people present in the relief camp set up in the Higher Secondary School here. Before his arrival, at around 3.30 am in Jiribam Toll village, the miscreants had fired on the Casspir van (anti-land mine van) of the security forces. A fire brigade was also targeted in this. The security forces arrested 2 people after searching.
Around 3 pm, Rahul met victims of Manipur violence at Mandap Tuibong Relief Camp in Churachandpur, Imphal.
Rahul reached Raj Bhavan at 5 pm. Here he met Governor Anusuiya Uikey.
The population of Manipur is about 38 lakhs. There are three major communities here - Meitei, Naga and Kuki. Meitei are mostly Hindus. Naga-Kuki believe in Christianity. They come under ST category. Their population is about 50%. Imphal valley, spread over about 10% area of the state, is dominated by Meitei community. The population of Naga-Kuki is about 34 percent. These people live in about 90% area of the state.
The Meitei community demands that they should also be given the status of a tribe. The community filed a petition in the Manipur High Court for this. The community argued that Manipur was merged with India in 1949. Before that they had the status of a tribe. After this, the High Court recommended to the state government that the Meitei should be included in the Scheduled Tribe (ST).
In March 2023, the Manipur High Court had asked the Central Government to send recommendations for inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Caste (ST). After this, the Kuki community started protests in the hill districts of the state which is still going on.
On May 3, 2023, violent protests started in Churachandpur district of Manipur. Which soon spread to other districts including East-West Imphal, Bishnupur, Tengnoupal and Kangpokpi. About 200 people lost their lives in this violence.
Geneva's Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) released a report in May. It said that in the year 2023, 69 thousand people were displaced in South Asia. Of these, 97 percent i.e. 67 thousand people have been displaced due to Manipur violence. People had to leave their homes and take shelter in relief camps as well as other people's homes