Opposition MPs Walk Out of Parliament Panel Meet After Demand To Discuss Manipur Denied
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: Three opposition MPs who are members of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs walked out of a meeting on Thursday, July 6, after their request to discuss the situation in Manipur was denied by the committee's chairman.
According to the news agency PTI, the meeting was scheduled to discuss prison reforms in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. The Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s Derek O'Brien and Congress MPs Digvijaya Singh and Pradip Bhattacharya jointly submitted a letter to committee chairman Brijlal, a Rajya Sabha MP and a former IPS officer.
According to PTI, they said it is their moral and constitutional responsibility to discuss this matter with utmost urgency and the required sincerity.
"Having been a senior police officer yourself, you understand the gravity of the situation in the state. Manipur needs healing and an end to the violence. We as elected representatives cannot look away," the letter said.
The letter also said that some MPs had already written to the chairman last month requesting an urgent meeting of the committee to discuss Manipur, but the demand which was not accepted.
"You also informed us that this issue will not be taken up for discussion any time in July. Sir, it is your prerogative to fix the agenda of the meeting. We stand against such an evasion of responsibility to discuss an issue of national importance, and are therefore choosing to walk out of the meeting," they added.
According to PTI, the three MPs are unlikely to attend the other two scheduled meetings of the committee this month.
Before leaving the meeting, the MPs urged BJP MP Biplab Deb, who hails from the Northeast, to join them in their walkout. O'Brien and Singh had previously written to Brijlal separately, urging him to hold a meeting to discuss the situation in Manipur. However, the chairman had informed them individually that urgent meetings on the Manipur situation were not possible due to the three scheduled meetings on prison reforms in July.
The meeting was attended by a total of seven members, including the chairman.
The ethnic violence in Manipur between the Meitei and Kuki communities has been ongoing since May 3. It has resulted in the deaths of nearly 120 people and injuries to more than 3,000. Several thousand more have been displaced.
This article went live on July sixth, two thousand twenty three, at fifty-nine minutes past four in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.