INDIAN opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday (22) slammed prime minister Narendra Modi over his government's first outreach across the political aisle on ongoing violence in the north-eastern state of Manipur, questioning the top leader's alleged silence on the issue.
Gandhi, 53, said the meeting with all parties were called when Modi is not in the country and remarked it is "not important" for him. The prime minister is currently on a state visit to the US and will travel to Egypt from there. The meeting has been scheduled in New Delhi on Saturday (24) when Modi will still be abroad.
In a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said, “Manipur has been burning since 50 days, but the Prime Minister remained silent. An all-party meeting was called when the Prime Minister himself is not in the country! Clearly, this meeting is not important for the prime minister."
Earlier in the day, home minister Amit Shah convened the all-party meeting to discuss the situation in Manipur where violence broke out on May 3 and has not stopped despite Shah visiting it earlier this month when he met representatives of the warring Kuki and Meitei communities and appealed for peace. Huge number of arms have been recovered from the state following his appeal but yet violence has not completely died down. More than 100 people have been killed in the violence so far while many have been injured. Several people have been rendered homeless due to widespread destruction of houses.
The violence first broke out on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was taken out in Manipur's hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status which is meant for disadvantaged social groups.
On Wednesday (21), veteran Indian National Congress leader Sonia Gandhi appealed for peace in Manipur and said the situation in the state was heartbreaking.
Anger has also been witnessed among the people of Manipur over Modi's alleged silence and missing posters also came up about him. It was also reported that three delegations from Manipur, including from the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party which is also in power in Manipur, sought an audience with the prime minister over the situation but failed to meet him as he left for the US.
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