Cong says Manipur violence seems ‘pre-planned’, demands Prez’s Rule

New Delhi: Amid the incidents of violence in Manipur, the Congress on Thursday demanded immediate imposition of President’s Rule in the state to help restore peace and normalcy.

Alleging that the Manipur violence seemed “pre-planned”, Congress spokesperson and the party’s in-charge for Manipur Bhakta Charan Das has demanded compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the violence and Rs 5 lakh for people whose houses were destroyed.

Addressing a press conference, Das questioned why Union Home Minister Amit Shah has not visited the violence-hit northeastern state yet and why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has remained silent on the issue.

“The BJP government has utterly failed to control the situation (in Manipur). It has been unable to stop the violence, unable to stop weapons from being looted or recover them, unable to rescue innocent people and unable to provide facilities to those in relief camps,” Das said.

“In this situation, we demand that President’s Rule be immediately imposed to stop these incidents (of violence) that are happening even now,” he said and alleged that the Centre and the state government are not working according to the Constitution.

If there is President’s Rule, then there will be more accountability, the Congress spokesperson said, adding that had law and order been there, this would have not happened.

“It seems it (violence) was pre-planned” because no one from the central government is monitoring this issue, he alleged.

“The home minister has still not visited Manipur and the prime minister has not even tweeted and appealed for peace,” Das said.

“Why has the Union home minister not visited the state of Manipur yet? Why has the prime minister not even issued an appeal for peace? What measures has the Union government taken to restore peace and save the lives and properties of people,” he asked.

The Congress leader demanded immediate relief measures such as treatment of those injured and creating a safe space for people to go back to their homes.