“The Congress is crying about Manipur when relative peace has come,” he said. (file)
New Delhi:
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said the situation in conflict-torn Manipur is “fast improving”, and it will further improve in the next week or 10 days. Slamming the Congress, he said it is “crying” when relative peace has been established in the northeastern state, but was silent during the peak of the ethnic conflict.
“The Congress is crying about Manipur when relative peace has come. They should have cried when there was a volatile situation. At that time, they neither went to Manipur nor commented on it. Now, Manipur is almost limping back to normalcy, and now they are talking about it,” he can be heard saying in a video tweeted by news agency ANI.
He further “guaranteed” that the situation in the state is better than what it was a month back, and that the Home Ministry and the Manipur government are “silently working” towards it.
“I can tell you with guarantee that there is improvement in Manipur situation compared to what was there one month back…The situation is fast becoming normal,” he added.
#WATCH | Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says, “I think the situation in Manipur is improving day by day and I am of the view that in the next one week or 10 days, more improvement will take place. The Congress is crying about Manipur when relative peace has come. They should have… pic.twitter.com/3qXFvDQaoL
— ANI (@ANI) July 1, 2023
Mr Sarma, who is seen as BJP’s top troubleshooter in the region, hit out at the grand old party just a day after its top leader Rahul Gandhi returned from his two-day trip to Manipur.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, too, on Friday took a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Manipur visit, saying that he engages in what he called “vulture tourism”.
Mr Chandrasekhar accused Mr Gandhi of visiting places where people are suffering instead of actively addressing the long-standing issues in those societies
“I find that Rahul Gandhi always has this habit of making these visits almost look like a vulture tourist goes and travels places where suffering is going on. Instead of contributing to decades of tension in some societies that have been ignored by years under the previous government, he goes there for a little vulture tourism visit,” Mr Chandrasekhar said.
“I don’t want to comment too much about it. I certainly think that all want peace to be restored. The state government does not like violence in Manipur and I hope that Rahul Gandhi is happy with his photo op today and goes back to doing what he does for his foreign holidays,” he added.
Mr Gandhi, after meeting Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey at Raj Bhavan yesterday, reiterated that his party will extend full cooperation to bring peace and tranquillity in the state so that the immemorial history of co-existence will maintain the status quo ante.
At least 100 people have been killed and more than 40,000 have fled their homes since clashes broke out in Manipur in early May between Kukis, who mostly live in the hills, and Meiteis, the dominant community in the lowlands, over the latter’s demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribe list.
Sporadic incidents of violence and arson still occur despite the heavy presence of security forces in parts of the remote state, which borders Myanmar.
Source link: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/manipur-violence-himanta-biswa-sarma-can-tell-you-with-guarantee-assam-chief-ministers-big-claim-on-manipur-4168876