The ruling BJP at the Centre is orchestrating riots in Manipur, Haryana and Rajasthan in a bid to mobilise the support of the majority community, ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, claimed K. Balakrishnan, State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Coimbatore on Wednesday.
Demanding the removal of Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, he said the Manipur riots that began on May 3 have been going on now for three months, 150-odd lives had been lost and 70,000 tribal people were hiding, in fear, in the forests. Appreciating Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s gesture of offering ₹10 crore worth of relief materials for those who have been displaced in the Northeastern state and are currently at relief camps, Mr. Balakrishnan exhorted the Centre to extend the same gesture. Though outwardly it appears to be an ethnic strife, the real motive behind the riots is to displace tribal people and hand over the hills to the Ambani and Adani [business] groups, he claimed.
The Prime Minister is not attending the Lok Sabha sessions and is not answering the queries of the MPs on the situation in Manipur, thus forcing the Opposition to move a ‘no confidence motion’ he said.
Accusing the BJP and Bajrang Dal of being behind the riots, he wanted to know why Home Minister Amit Shah, instead of attending to pressing commitments, was in Rameswaram to flag off the political roadshow of BJP state president K. Annamalai. He also questioned Mr. Shah’s moral propriety to criticise the DMK government.
The Left party leader also slammed the Modi government for not doing anything about the crisis that the T.N. textile industry was facing, since export demand was on the decline, and garments from Bangladesh and Vietnam have come into the Tamil Nadu market.
On a query about former CM O. Panneerselvam and AMMK leader T. T. V. Dhinakaran staging a demonstration demanding the arrest of the accused persons in the Kodanad dacoity-cum-murder case, Mr. Balakrishnan said the CPI (M) is also of the opinion that the investigation needed to be stepped up to solve the “mysteries” in Kodanad.
On the issue of the appointment of Elections Commissioners and their Chief, he welcomed the opinion that the appointments should be made by the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. He also condemned Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) leader Seeman for calling Christians and Muslims ‘Children of Satan’ for voting the DMK to power.
The CPI (M) leader also said that the Opposition INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) was growing stronger with 26 parties. He also condemned the Delhi Services Bill, which is being tabled in the Parliament despite a ruling by the Supreme Court. If the Central government could act against an apex court order, any common man could also do so, he said. Delhi might be a Union Territory, but it has an elected government, and interfering with its role is objectionable, he said.
