The Union government should dismiss the Biren Singh government in Manipur and impose President’s Rule in order to start the peace process under a neutral administration, the Congress said on Friday.
The principal Opposition party also objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in which he equated crimes against women in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh with the May 4 Manipur incident in which two women were paraded naked by a mob.
Referring to Mr. Modi’s statement on June 20 about being angry over the Manipur incident, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted, “If you were angry then instead of making false equivalence with Congress-governed States, you could have first dismissed your Chief Minister of Manipur”.
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‘Dismissal, the first step’
In a long Twitter post, Mr. Chidambaram, a former Home Minister, explained why the Chief Minister’s dismissal could be first step for different communities to reconcile their differences. He said the Meiteis, the Kukis and the Nagas have to live together under whatever legal arrangements are accepted by all.
“Each ethnic group has grievances against another group. Irrespective of who is right or wrong, eventually the three groups must talk to each other and arrive at a social and political compact,” Mr. Chidambaram said. ”To enable Meiteis and Kukis to stop the violence and talk to each other, there must be a neutral administration. That is why I have pleaded that a spell of President’s Rule is desirable,” he said.
The party also questioned the National Commission for Women (NCW) for not taking action against the Biren Singh government despite receiving a complaint about the incident on June 12. “No action was taken. And just yesterday [June 20] the Manipur CM admitted on television that this is just one instance and that more such barbarities have taken place,” tweeted Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
“The CM has no moral right to continue in his position, he must step down immediately. The PM must speak in Parliament after which a discussion should take place,” he added.
‘Govt. not serious on debate’
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Congress deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Pramod Tiwari, and Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera accused the government of not being serious on a debate on the situation in Manipur.
They appealed to President Droupadi Murmu to exercise her powers to dismiss the State government, and urged the Prime Minister to follow rajdharma [duty of the ruler] by taking steps to restore peace and also to visit the State. “If the country now has any hope, it is from President Droupadi Murmuji. We want to urge you to use your special powers and dismiss the government in Manipur,” Mr. Khera said.
Mr. Tiwari claimed that the government wants a short-duration debate on Manipur with a fixed time while the Opposition wants a debate under a rule (267) where everyone can express themselves “Who is running away from a discussion? They want to make it a formality. I challenge the government, if it is serious, it should start a debate on Monday morning itself,” Mr. Tiwari said.
