Manipur: Amid escalation of violence in Manipur, the Congress on Monday, September 9, demanded that Chief Minister N. Biren Singh be immediately dismissed and the Central government take full responsibility for the sensitive security situation. It also said that the Supreme Court-appointed Manipur Commission of Inquiry should expedite its probe. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “gross failure” in Manipur was “unforgivable”. The opposition party’s statement came amid fresh violence in the state’s Jiribam district on Saturday in which at least five people were killed. According to police, militants barged into a man’s house and shot him while he was sleeping. Following the killing, heavy gunfire broke out between members of the warring communities, leaving four armed men dead.
Ethnically diverse Jiribam, which was earlier largely untouched by the ethnic clashes in the Imphal valley and surrounding hills, witnessed violence in June after a 59-year-old man of one community was allegedly killed by militants of another community. In a post on Twitter, Kharge said, “PM Modi’s abject failure in Manipur is unpardonable. Former Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey ji has reiterated the voice of the people of Manipur. She said the people of the strife-torn state are distressed and saddened as they want PM Modi to visit them.” The Congress president said in the last 16 months, Prime Minister Modi has not spent even a second in Manipur while violence continues unabated in the state and people are suffering the consequences of “Modi-Shah collusion”.
