TMC’s Moitra urges PM Modi to address ethnic strife in Manipur
Mahua Moitra implores PM Modi to tackle Manipur's ethnic strife
In the latest developments from the Parliament, Mahua Moitra, Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker, called on India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to take urgent action to address the ongoing ethnic strife in the northeastern state of Manipur. She further demanded the removal of Manipur’s current chief minister, N Biren Singh, from his office.
Expressing her concerns in Lok Saba during the debate on the non-confidence motion against the government, Moitra condemned the seeming disengagement from the Prime Minister on the state’s situation. She said, “It’s indeed unfortunate that the Prime Minister has neither addressed the Manipur issue within Parliament nor has he visited the state to encourage and reassure the terrified local population.”
Moitra attributed the volatile situation in Manipur to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s domineering stance. “The majoritarian bravado of the BJP has wreaked havoc in Manipur. We, as a nation, refuse to be intimidated,” she vehemently stated.
Drawing attention to the broader implications, the TMC lawmaker considered the motion to signify faith in India, more than a simple vote of no-confidence. She opined the barometer of such a motion should incorporate India’s founding principles like secularism, values purportedly buried deep by the current regime.
“Ordinarily, no-confidence motions are negative motions designed with a mild prospect to topple the present government. We acknowledge that it is not a feasible proposition as we lack the required majority,” Moitra elucidated. “Against the current backdrop, while the motion may not triumph within the Parliament, it holds the potential for a larger symbolic victory – one that the people of India might voice soon.”
Moitra shed light on the grim reality of Manipur, labelling it as a landscape of silent suffering inflicted by the authorities’ false equivalencies. “The issue is essentially a hate crime involving a specific community, with allegations of the police, probably from the same community as the chief minister, facilitating acts of sexual abuse against women of a different community, further actively blocking their pursuit of justice,” she detailed.
Substantiating her argument, Moitra emphasised the current scenario symbolises a state of internal conflict – something India has seldom witnessed in the previous few decades.
