Congress calls Amit Shah’s all-party meeting on Manipur crisis a ‘belated step’

Delhi (IANS) | The Congress termed the all-party meeting called by Home Minister Amit Shah on June 24 to discuss the Manipur crisis as a too late step. Hitting out at Shah, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said, after 50 days of death and destruction in Manipur, Home Minister Amit Shah’s call for an all-party meeting is too late. The government woke up only after Sonia Gandhi’s address to the people of Manipur.

Criticizing the government, the Congress leader said that firstly, the absence of the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) from such a serious meeting shows their weakness and unwillingness to face up to their failures. He said, even when several delegations sought his meeting, he did not have time for them.

Things have turned bad since the home minister’s visit to Manipur, he said. Can we expect real peace under his leadership? ,

The Congress Rajya Sabha MP said, “Any effort for peace should have been in Manipur, where the conflicting communities would have been brought to a table for discussion and a political solution would have been worked out.”

Venugopal said, if this effort is made sitting in Delhi, then there will be lack of seriousness in it. The whole country is expecting serious intervention from the central government, which has not happened so far.

On Wednesday, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) president Sonia Gandhi in a video statement condoled the deaths in violence-hit Manipur and appealed for peace.

Significantly, after the violent clashes in Manipur since May 3, more than 100 people have died and about 50,000 people are forced to live in relief camps.

The Congress is questioning the silence of the Prime Minister on this issue.

–IANS