Congress says 'insensitivity' of PM Modi to suffering of people of Manipur 'truly shocking'

New Delhi: With Manipur facing another round of violence, Congress on Sunday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting the north-eastern state and claimed that the “insensitivity of the Frequent Flyer PM” to the suffering of Manipuris is “truly shocking and defies understanding”.

Tension prevails in Manipur after violence erupted in five districts – Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Katching, and Bishnupur on Saturday.

Senior Congress MP and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi asked the union government why peace was not being restored in Manipur despite the state being administered by the Centre.

“Why has the Prime Minister left Manipur to its fate? Till date he has neither visited Manipur, nor met any representative of the state, nor appealed for peace, nor made any concrete effort. This insensitive and irresponsible attitude is extremely unfortunate for any democracy,” she posted on ‘X’.

She said it is the Prime Minister’s responsibility to ensure peace and security for the citizens and to step back from this is to “turn away from one's duty”.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh asked when would Modi find the “time and inclination” to visit Manipur, as he insisted that the President's Rule “has made no difference”, with the Governor himself being forced to travel from Imphal airport to his residence by helicopter,

"His drum-beaters once claimed that he (Modi) had stopped the war between Ukraine and Russia for a while. That claim, like most of his boasts, proved completely bogus. The PM has travelled to different parts of the world and visited numerous states of our country to do his trademark inaugurations.

"But he has never met with political leaders or civil society organisations from Manipur having outsourced the management of the state's affairs to the Union Home Minister who has failed miserably. The insensitivity of the Frequent Flyer PM to the suffering of the people of Manipur is truly shocking and defies understanding," he said.

Ramesh claimed that Modi stands "totally exposed" just as the people of the state continue to pay the price of his "callous and complete indifference".

He alleged that the BJP "engineered a majority for itself" in February 2022 but in "less than fifteen months later from the night of May 3, 2023 Manipur was made to burn. Hundreds of innocent men, women, and children were killed. Thousands were displaced. Places of worship were destroyed".

"On June 4, 2023, the Union Government set up a three-member Commission of Inquiry. That commission has been given repeated extensions to submit its report and the latest deadline given to it is Nov 20, 2025. On Aug 1, 2023 the Supreme Court observed that 'there had been an absolute breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state for the past two months'," he said.

"The Union Home Minister went through the motions of visiting Manipur while the PM maintained absolute silence refusing to say anything and meet anybody from the state," he claimed.

Demands were made by the Congress for the imposition of President's Rule to begin with and that was ignored till they announced that it was bringing a no-confidence motion in the assembly session beginning February 10.

"The BJP read the writing on the wall, got the CM to resign on the night of February 9 and finally imposed President's Rule on February 13. The President's Rule, however, has made no difference. The Governor himself has been forced to travel from Imphal airport to his residence by helicopter. Law and order in many parts of the state remains in a state of peril," he added.