Kharge in his letter emphasised that both the central and state governments have failed to restore peace and normalcy in the state …reports Asian Lite News
Amid the continued tension and unrest in Manipur, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, wherein he blamed the the “inordinate inaction” of both Centre and state governments towards restoring peace, and called for her intervention to ensure the protection of the lives and properties of the people of the state.
Kharge in his letter emphasised that both the central and state governments have failed to restore peace and normalcy in the state adding that the people of the state have lost confidence in both governments.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted Kharge’s letter on X, and said, “@INCIndiaPresident @kharge ji has just written to the President of India on the deteriorating situation in Manipur and the Union Govt’s abysmal failure there over the last eighteen months.”
Kharge in the letter said that more the 300 people have lost their last in Manipur for the last 18 months and nearly a lakh of the human population has been displaced.
“The country has been inflicted with a grave tragedy of extraordinary proportions due to the unprecedented turmoil in Manipur for the last 18 months, the ongoing turmoil has taken more than 300 human lives, including women, children and even small babies. It has internally displaced nearly a lakh of the human population rendering them homeless and forcing them to live in different relief camps. The agony of the people continues unabated,” the letter said.
Expressing concern over the deteriorating living conditions of the people of the state, the Congress chief added, “It has affected the economy of the state and the living conditions of its people with retail inflation going up to 10%. This has made the lives of the people of Manipur extremely difficult. Businesses are closed down, jobs are getting lost, professionals have left their own homes, essential food items, medicines, and essential commodities are in scarcity, national highways have been blocked since May of 2023, schools and educational institutions are shut down, and internally displaced persons are dying of suicide in relief camps. Manipur and its people are suffering silently, which in turn has taken a huge toll on the mental health of the entire population.”
“As both the Union Government and the State Government of Manipur have completely failed in restoring peace and normalcy in Manipur during the last 18 months, the people of the state have apparently lost confidence in both the governments and reasonably so. With every passing day, the people of Manipur are becoming insecure on their own soil – their home turf having witnessed their infants, babies, children and women getting mercilessly killed. With no succour coming from the governments involved, they have been finding themselves completely isolated and helpless for more than 540 days now,” the letter added.
Kharge further highlighted that Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has visited Manipur three times in the last 18 months whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not visited even once.
Tribals hold ‘coffin rally’
Thousands of men and women on Tuesday took part in a ‘coffin rally’ in Manipur’s Churachandpur in solidarity with the 10 Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribal ‘Village Volunteers’, who were killed in a reported encounter with CRPF in Jiribam district on November 11.
Jointly organised by Zomi Students’ Federation, Kuki Students’ Organisation and Hmar Students’ Association, thousands of men and women wearing black attire symbolically carried 10 dummy coffins to pay homage to the 10 slain Village Volunteers as all the 10 bodies are still kept in the morgue of a local hospital.
The three tribal organisations on Monday urged the authorities of all schools and colleges in Churachandpur district and adjoining areas to close down their educational institutions and to send students from Class X and above to participate in Tuesday’s rally.
The three organisations also urged people from all walks of life to participate in the ‘coffin rally’ in large numbers. After the post-mortem of all ten bodies was conducted in Assam’s Silchar Medical College and Hospital, the bodies were airlifted on November 16 to Churachandpur, a Kuki-Zo-Hmar inhabited district.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), an apex body of the Kuki-Zo community in Manipur, earlier said that they have decided that the last rites of 10 Village Volunteers, would not be performed till their postmortem examination reports are handed over to the families. “We have not yet received the post-mortem reports. We would wait for autopsy reports of all the martyrs’ bodies. We would not bury the martyrs before that,” senior ITLF leader Ginza Vualzong told the media after Sunday’s meeting.
He said: “Our martyrs’ bodies would be placed in the district hospital morgue until post-mortem reports are available.” Vualzong said that after receiving the post-mortem reports of all 10 of them, an expert in this field would carefully review the autopsy reports for any irregularity.
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