Representative image of people from Manipur stage a protest against the ongoing ethnic violence in the state, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
Guwahati: After being denied permission to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Friday over the conflict in Manipur, I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders of the conflict-torn state invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the state in order to resolve the crisis.
In a letter to PM Modi, the leaders of the 10 Opposition parties headed by Congress urged Modi to visit the state before December 31 or invite leaders of all political parties from the state for a meeting in New Delhi for finding a solution.
"We appealed to the Prime Minister to visit Manipur before 2024 ends, and if he has no time to visit in 2024, then we also demanded that he should invite all political parties from Manipur in his Prime Minister's Office or at the Prime Minister's residence in Delhi. We also requested him to be pro-actively involved and engaged with the people of Manipur as he, being the Prime Minister, can only bring peace and normalcy in Manipur," K Meghachandra Singh, president of Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee said.
The letter inviting the PM was signed by Singh and Kshetrimayum Shanta, convenor of 10 political parties in Manipur.
Singh said thousands of people are disheartened over the denial of permission for the peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar. "But, we will continue our protest in many forms in different parts of the country as Manipur turmoil has become a national issue. Our 30 lakhs of people in Manipur are forced to undergo the ongoing turmoil in the state for a period of almost two years now."
Manipur has remained on the boil due to the conflict involving the majority Meitei and the ethnic Kuki-Zo communities since May last year. At least 258 people have died and over 60,000 others displaced.
The efforts to initiate talks has not made any headway as both the communities have remained firm on their demands. Many in Manipur, including the Opposition parties have questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not visited the state or held a meeting to find a solution despite repeated appeals.