Kharge questions PM Modi's silence on Manipur violence

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday raised the issue of continued violence in Manipur and asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not had the time to visit the state.

Participating in a discussion on the “Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India”, the Congress chief said the prime minister had not had the time to assess the situation in Manipur for the past year and a half, since violence started in the eastern border state.

“Violence and unrest is continuing in Manipur but Modi ji did not get the time for one-and-a-half years to assess the situation there,” he said.

“The prime minister travels everywhere within the country and outside but he has no time to visit Manipur, even when violence continues there,” Kharge said, questioning Modi’s silence on the issue.

Ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3 last year after a tribal solidarity march was taken out in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Since then, more than 220 people, including members of both the Kuki and the Meitei communities and security personnel, have been killed in the continuing violence.