New Delhi: The Delhi Meetei Coordinating Committee (DMCC) has sought to know from Prime Minister Narendra Modi why his heart only bleeds for lives lost in the Ukraine war but not for those killed due to the ongoing conflict in Manipur.
In a statement issued on July 11, DMCC said while Prime Minister Modi’s efforts to promote peace on the international stage have been applauded, his “apparent neglect” of a severe domestic crisis in Manipur has raised significant concerns among citizens and political observers.
The DMCC statement highlighted that the Prime Minister has not made it a point to visit Manipur, which is 2,411 kms from Delhi and a mere 2 hours and 50 minutes by flight.
“Modi’s heart bleeds when innocent kids die in war between Russia and Ukraine but has no heart to bleed for the hundreds of innocent lives lost, including kids, in Manipur. His own citizens have been ignored,” the statement said.
It goes on to add, ” The Government of India’s (GOI) failure to address the violence in Manipur has shown that the region is being ignored and marginalised. Residents of Manipur feel abandoned and
believe the central government is using the state as a pawn for national security interests, rather than ensuring the safety and well-being of its people.”
Citing data from Modi’s official website, DMCC said Modi travelled to Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat the most in 2017. He visited these states as many as 21 times each. The Prime Minister has made just one visit to Sikkim, Mizoram, and Pondicherry while visiting Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland just twice in the past four years. Between 2014 and 2018, he travelled to UP the most for both official and unofficial trips, totalling 49 visits. The prime minister has visited his bastion, Gujarat, 23 times on official visits, with 10 unofficial visits, totalling 33, the statement said.
“However, he has failed to visit the violence-stricken state of Manipur, where hundreds of innocent lives have been lost on both sides of the conflict,” the statement added.
The response of the Modi government to the Manipur crisis has largely been evasive. Modi was forced to break his silence on July 20 last year, 70 days after violence began in the state and after a harrowing video of two Kuki women being paraded naked surfaced online. Modi was compelled to speak following the national and global outrage.
He also addressed the Manipur conflict in the parliament in August last year after the Opposition moved a no-confidence motion against his government. Recently, on July 3, Modi in parliament said that incidents of violence were “continuously reducing” and that his government was making “efforts” to normalise the situation in the state.
Since the violence began on May 3 last year, more than 200 people have been killed and thousands have suffered injuries. Over 60,000 people have been displaced and are taking refuge in relief camps.
