Although the opposition INDIA alliance wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his more than three-month silence about the ongoing violence in Manipur on the floor of the Parliament, Modi spoke about the violence hit-state for barely ten minutes.
The violent conflict that erupted on May 3, 2023 in Manipur’s Churachandpur district and its adjoining areas of Bishnupur district from where thousands of people belonging to Meitei community fled for their lives with just the clothes they were wearing has witnessed close to 180 deaths and displacement of about 60,000 people who are now taking shelter in 361 relief camps across the state and at their relative’s homes and burning down of about 4500 houses.
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained silent on Manipur Violence for more than three months, to make Modi speak on the floor of the Parliament the opposition INDIA alliance had to move the No-confidence Motion against his government.
The no-confidence motion was brought by the Congress on July 26 to get Prime Minister Narendra Modi address on the violence in parliament. The motion was moved by Congress MP from Assam Gaurav Gogoi on August 8.
However, while replying to the no-confidence motion moved against his government, in his speech that lasted around 2 hours 20 mins, Modi spoke about the violence hit-state of Manipur for less than ten minutes, which the world had witnessed on the live telecast of the parliament session.
That too, after giving his extensive speech for more than one hour and 40 minutes devoted to attacking the Congress, previous UPA governments, the opposition INDIA alliance and the developmental initiatives and achievements brought to the North East during the nine years rule of the Modi government.
Despite the opposition saying that the goal of the no-confidence motion was to get the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the issue of the ongng violence in Manipur inside parliament, there was no mention of Manipur even after speaking for 1 hour and 40 minutes amid loud protests from the opposition. This made the opposition members lost their patience.
The world had witnessed that opposition members, who had urged PM Modi to address the three-month-long violence during the entire parliamentary session, staged a walkout when, after 1 hour and 40 minutes of the speech, there was no mention of Manipur.
As opposition MPs started walking out of the House, Prime Minister Modi began mentioning Manipur for the first time at about 6:42 pm in his extensive speech which began at 5.00 pm.
“Yesterday, Amit bhai (Shah) said that an order came from Manipur High Court, which saw a sequence of events that led to violence in Manipur. Many families lost their loved ones. Terrible crimes were committed against women and this is condemnable,” Modi said.
He continued, “To punish the perpetrators both central and state governments are trying their best. I want to assure all citizens that all our efforts are underway and peace will soon be restored. Manipur will move forward with new atma vishwas (self confidence) towards development soon.”
“I also want to tell the people of Manipur, to the women, daughters and sisters that the country is with you and this House is with you. Together we will confront this challenge and bring back peace. I want to tell Manipur that we are trying our best to ensure Manipur moves towards peace soon,” PM Modi stressed.
It may be mentioned that during the whole monsoon session of Indian Parliament which began on July 20 and ended on August 11, PM Modi only appeared in the House for the first time on Thursday afternoon (August 10) – first, briefly during Opposition’s Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s speech, and later, just before he was due to give his reply shortly before 5 pm.
His brief comments on Manipur violence focussed on the High Court order asking Government of Manipur to consider recommendation of Meitei for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Government of India as if it was the root of the ongoing violent conflict.
He also gave more emphasis on the violence against women saying to the women, daughters and sisters of Manipur that the country is with them.
Attacking the opposition in his brief comments on Manipur, PM Modi said, “If they had agreed to Shah’s requests, we could have had a good discussion. Shah gave a detailed statement yesterday (August 9) and the country was shocked by the lies spread by the opposition about the situation in Manipur.”
“We had said come and discuss Manipur, the Home Minister even wrote a letter. But they had no intention or courage…”
Modi said that Shah’s speech on Wednesday (August 9) continued for over two hours and was a detailed reply on Manipur “without any politics” that took into account “the concerns of the citizens and the government”.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah was speaking for about 45 minutes on Manipur violence during his over two hours speech on the second day of the debate on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, which later adopted a resolution appealing for peace in Manipur.
While Shah blamed the Manipur High Court for “triggering the violence”, he ruled out a change of guard in the state, asserting that Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren was “cooperating” with the Centre.
In his over two-hour-long counter to the motion, he traced the origin of the current cycle of ethnic violence to an influx of Kuki refugees from Myanmar following the regime change there in 2021. “A Kuki Democratic Front started a movement there, and the military rulers launched a crackdown on them. As there is no border fencing, a large number of Kuki brothers came to Manipur and Mizoram as refugees,” he said. As the Kuki refugees settled down in the forests of Manipur valley, there were fears of a demographic change, he said.
Shah said the HC then added “fuel to the fire”, referring to its March 27 order asking the state government to submit a recommendation to grant Scheduled Tribe status for the Meitei community. “It (HC) suddenly heard a petition that had been pending with it for years. And it did not take affidavits from the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, or the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, or the Manipur government… This caused a lot of unrest in the hills. The order was passed without any legal process,” he said.
“I appeal to both communities in Manipur with folded hands to renounce violence. Please come to the talks table with the Government of India and let us find a way to restore Manipur to the path of progress and prosperity,” he said. “Only dialogue can lead to a solution… We do not wish to change the demography. I am talking to them personally,” Shah said.
With the Opposition questioning the government on why the Chief Minister had not been replaced, Shah said: “We changed the Chief Secretary and the DGP on May 4. The Chief Minister is replaced when he does not cooperate. He is cooperating.”
As expected, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah defends the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in Manipur headed by Nongthombam Biren.
Since the debate was not solely on Manipur violence as it was a no-confidence motion against Pime Minister Narendra Modi Government, Modi’s extensive speech devoted to attacking the Congress, UPA governments and the INDIA alliance; and highligting the achievements of nine years of NDA government.
He assured the people of Manipur with particuar address to women, daughters and sisters that peace shall soon return as the government is doing everything possible to punish the accused, as if punishing the culprits will resolve the violent conflict between the Kuki-Zomi militants and Meiteis.
Moreover, PM Modi assured “The country is with you, this Parliament is with you. We will together find ways to resolve this challenge, peace will be established again soon. I assure the people of Manipur that the state will again witness progress.”
However, PM Modi did not delve into the violent conflict between the Kuki-Zomi militants and Meiteis which conitinues unabated for more than 100 days except generalising the conflicts in India’s Northeast by saying that “The root cause of all problems in the Northeast is the Congress’s earlier policies.”
And the Indian Parliament has failed to discuss the core issue of the ongoing violent conflict in Manipur between the Kuki-Zomi militants and Meiteis.
Senior Editor: Imphal Review of Arts and Politics
1 thought on “Parliament Fails To Discuss the Core Issue of the Ongoing Violent Conflict in Manipur Between Between Kuki-Zo Tribes and Meiteis”
The real issue is sidetracked. The ST decision of High Court has been made the reason for the violence. It is a planned move for the Kuki homeland. If any individual who is well aware of the lives of Meiteis in the Leikais in Churachandpur will never belief in what the Kuki claim that ‘Meiteis protested and disturbed in their peaceful procession plan’.
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