All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal has said that the Congress did not have the tradition of taking political advantage when a whole State is burning.
Opening the hunger strike by M.K. Raghavan, MP, demanding restoration of peace in Manipur, in Kozhikode on Friday, he said Rahul Gandhi had to visit the State since there was no action even after an appeal to the President.
“The nation will have to pay dearly if this conflict is not controlled immediately. The Prime Minister should strive for peace when a State has been facing unrest for 65 days,” he said.
Mr. Venugopal complained that the Prime Minister who talked a lot in ‘Mann Ki Baat’, had nothing to say to people fighting in Manipur, neither had he the inclination to visit the State.
“Considering the amount of firearms possessed by the warring communities, one cannot help wondering where they got it from without the government knowing about it. The government, the police, and the Army have lost their credibility,” Mr. Venugopal said, adding that Manipur was a lesson for the government that there would be repercussions if it attempted to intervene in the affairs of each State with a political agenda.
“The Congress is a party that gave up the post of Chief Minister when there was a riot in Mizoram. The Manipur Chief Minister’s resignation drama is farcical. This could happen in Kerala or other States. The Centre has only political advancement in its agenda at the cost of communal harmony,” he added.
He said the Congress would support the people of Manipur in every way possible, and that the reception accorded to Rahul Gandhi in Manipur was a positive sign.
District Congress Committee president K. Praveen Kumar presided over the event. M.K. Muneer, MLA, was the guest of honour.
