Manipur violence: Shah reiterates willingness for discussion in Parliament

Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday reiterated the government’s willingness to discuss in Parliament the ethnic violence in Manipur while requesting the Opposition to let the discussion take place amid continuing ruckus on the matter in House.

Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) has stuck to its demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on Manipur.

Minutes before the House was adjourned for the day, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asked Shah to speak over the demand for a discussion over the issue. “I am ready for a discussion on this in the House. I do not know why the Opposition is not letting us discuss the issue. …let a discussion take place on this issue. It is important that the country gets to know the truth on this sensitive matter,” Shah said.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh earlier said the government is ready to discuss the issue but the Opposition is not ready to listen. “I believe the Opposition is not serious about discussing the crucial issue,” he said.

A video surfaced on July 19 showing three women being stripped and paraded in Manipur. The incident fanned fresh tensions in the state and also led to the washing out of the first two days of Parliament’s monsoon session last week.

Ethnic violence has rocked the state for the last two months and claimed over 150 lives and left over 50,000 injured. Clashes first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after Kuki groups called for protests against a proposal to grant scheduled tribe status to Manipur’s dominant Meitei community.

INDIA grouping lawmakers earlier on Monday held a protest near the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex against the “government’s silence” on the violence and reiterated their demand for Modi’s statement.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge told journalists at the protest site that they were requesting both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha presiding officers to urge Modi to come and make a statement on what is the real situation. “The PM [Prime Minister] does not even come to the Parliament chambers and only sits in his office and listens to what is going on. If the PM makes a statement in the Parliament on Manipur, then we can have a discussion.”

He said Rule 267 of the parliamentary procedure allows discussion on such an issue for one hour or the entire day. “But they [the government] do not want that. One says, half an hour discussion and another says short duration discussion. Why you [Modi] are not coming to the House and telling the truth?”

The government expressed its readiness last week to debate in both Houses followed by Shah’s reply. But the Opposition insisted on Modi’s statement.