A team of 21 parliamentarians from the INDIA coalition landed in Imphal on July 29 morning on a two-day visit. Their tour comes ahead of a debate on the no-confidence motion, moved by the Opposition to force Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the Manipur strife in Parliament.
They headed for the relief camps in Churachandpur district and are also scheduled to visit Bishnupur, Kangpokpi and other troubled areas. The delegation will be meeting Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey before returning to Delhi.
Speaking to The Hindu, the members of the delegation accused the State administration of letting the conflict get to a point of no return. Congress’s Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha and prime mover of the no-confidence motion, Gaurav Gogoi, said, “It was a very painful day for me, to see such a beautiful State split asunder. It is clear that the State administration has no clear road map to restore peace or even to rehabilitate those who have been languishing in the refugee camps for nearly three months.”
Three out of the four women in the delegation — Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev, DMK’s K. Kanimozhi and Congress’s Phulo Devi Netam — met one of the victims who was paraded naked and molested by a mob on May 4. The video of the incident shook the country and flagged the violence against women in the conflict-torn State.
Speaking to The Hindu, Sushmita Dev said there was still palpable fear in the camps since the State administration has proven to be ineffectual and because the weapons stolen from the State police armoury are still untraceable. “The big question here is who will negotiate the settlement? Both Kukis and Meities do not want to speak to Chief Minister Biren Singh. The Meities are asking where the CM was when they were being killed in the hills. I met the woman from the disturbing video. She asked me why has the CM not acted against the policemen who stood as mute spectators when she was being paraded naked and molested by a mob. I had no answer,” she added.
CPI(M) member A.A. Raheem said that while one can give the benefit of the doubt to the State administration on its failure to control the conflict, what is beyond comprehension is the State government’s absolute neglect of the camps. “We visited a camp in Churachandpur where there are 9,000 persons from the Kuki community. It is a heart-rending sight; the camps are packed with women and children facing an uncertain future. The district administration was nowhere to be seen, all the work is being done by the civil society. The food is hardly nourishing, the roofs are leaking, there is no proper light at night and the children roam around listlessly,” Raheem said. He added that the condition of Meitei camps are no better, though the residents did mention that the district administration has made occasional rounds.
CPI MP P. Sandosh Kumar, who had visited the State as part of a delegation of the Left MPs in the first week of July, said there has been no improvement in the condition since then. “The overwhelming feeling here is that this conflict is a horror without an end,” he said.
RJD MP Manoj K. Jha said both the Central and State governments had messed up the situation. “There is so much bitterness between the two communities. The government itself supplied the poison which has spread across the State and is threatening to spill over across its boundaries to other north-eastern States.”
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, a Kuki organisation, has written to the INDIA delegation, stating that they “refuse to entertain the thought of going back to living under the communal Manipur government controlled by the Meitei community”.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, hit out at the delegation calling the visit a mere “show-off”. “When Manipur used to remain shut for months, they had not spoken a word,” he said referring to the tenures of the past governments. Reiterating the government narrative that the Opposition parties are turning a blind eye to the cases of atrocities against women in States ruled by them, he asked, “My request to Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is to bring the same delegation to West Bengal, where atrocities are happening against women. Does the Congress oppose the way the Mamata Banerjee government is holding on to power through killings?”
Nine killed in explosion at fireworks godown in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district
Nine persons were killed and 11 injured following a blast at a firecracker godown in Periyapettai in Krishnagiri district on July 29 morning.
The owner of the godown, along with his wife and two adult children were among those killed. The blast was reportedly caused by the explosion of a cylinder at a neighbouring eatery, housed in the same building as the godown.
The blast occurred when the godown was being opened for sales. The owner of the godown Ravi (42), his wife Jayashree (40), his daughter Rithika (19) and son Rutheesh (21), and the owner of the adjacent eatery Rajeshwari, and two others Ibrahim Kaiyulla (21) and Imran (18) along with an unidentified woman and an unidentified man were killed.
The building that had housed five shops, was reduced to a rubble with a few feared to have been trapped underneath the cement debris.
District Collector K.M. Sarayu, who monitored the disaster response on site, later said there was nothing amiss with the functioning of the godown on the commercial street.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives and announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin also announced a solatium of ₹3 lakh each to the families of the deceased and a compensation of ₹1 lakh each to those injured and undergoing treatment at hospital. He also said ₹50,000 will be given for those who sustained minor injuries.
Education in mother tongue initiating a new form of justice for students in India: PM Modi
Speaking at an event to mark the third anniversary of the National Education Policy in New Delhi on July 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for education in the mother tongue and said through the NEP, the country has started leaving behind the inferiority complex generated after portraying the country’s rich languages as “backward”.
Citing the example of Europe, Modi said education in the mother tongue will do justice to the young population in the country. He said it is initiating a new form of justice for students in India.
He said even though India has an array of established languages they were presented as a sign of backwardness and those who could not speak English were neglected and their talents were not recognised. “As a result,” the Prime Minister said, “the children of rural areas remained most affected.”
He added that the country has now begun to shun this belief with the advent of the NEP. The Prime Minister said subjects ranging from Social Science to Engineering will now be taught in Indian languages.
He said those who try to politicise language for their own selfish interests will now have to “shut their shops”.
He said the NEP will play a big role in creating an energetic new generation in the next 25 years. This generation, he said, will be free from the mentality of slavery, eager for innovations, and ready to bring laurels in fields from science to sports, willing to skill themselves as per the needs of the 21st century.
BJP chief Nadda reshuffles organisational pack, former AMU V-C Tariq Manoor, Anil Antony make the cut
BJP president J.P. Nadda on July 29 effected a reshuffle of the national team of office bearers of the party, dropping two general secretaries while adding former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) vice-chancellor Tariq Mansoor as vice president and new recruit Anil Antony, son of former Defence Minister A.K. Antony as national secretary.
The rejig, while having the meta narrative of a team being set up to face the upcoming Assembly polls in five States and the General Elections of 2024, is notable more for the smaller messages it contains.
In the operationally important section of the organisation — the list of general secretaries — there have been two notable deletions, that of Karnataka leader C.T. Ravi, and Lok Sabha member from Assam Dilip Saikia.
It is being said that Saikia’s deletion from the list has been compensated for by the appointment of Kamakhya Prasad Tasa as national secretary and the face of the vulnerable tea tribes there.
Ravi’s exclusion has evoked mixed reactions. While it is seen a response to the BJP’s big defeat in Karnataka, including his own loss after being a four-term MLA, Ravi has powerful mentors in New Delhi and therefore nothing can be definitely said about him being dropped and his future in State politics.
Telangana MP and former State unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar has been appointed as a general secretary, a consolation prize as he lost his presidentship of Telangana BJP to Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy just ahead of Assembly polls in the State.
An interesting addition to the list of general secretaries is Radha Mohan Agrawal, a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, one of the two new faces on the list from a total of nine general secretaries, seven of whom retain their position.
The list of national secretaries saw the most interesting additions and deletions, with Lok Sabha members Vinod Sonkar and Harish Dwivedi along with Sunil Deodhar being dropped.
Sources say that Sonkar and Dwivedi, both MPs from Uttar Pradesh, have been asked to get active in their areas, although Dwivedi stock is said to be high in his handling of Bihar as national secretary as well as his constituency work. There is talk that Dwivedi could be in line for a ministership if and when a reshuffle of Union Council of Ministers is effected.
Deodhar was handling Andhra Pradesh, which, after the appointment of D. Purandeswari as State unit president who is not exactly known to share warm relations with Telugu Desam Party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, indicates that the BJP wants a different strategy in the State.
Among those appointed new secretaries are Anil Antony, son of veteran Congress leader A.K. Antony, Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Singh Nagar and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa.
The BJP has long been trying to woo the Christian community in Kerala and Antony’s brand, both as belonging to the community and as son of A.K. Antony, was a consideration in his appointment. Nagar is an influential Gurjar leader from western UP while Tasa has long been the face of tea tribes in the northeastern State.
Tariq Mansoor former vice-chancellor (AMU) was appointed one of the 13 vice presidents of the BJP, with a nod to the Pasmanda Muslim outreach being tried out by the BJP to gain traction among backward Muslims. Along with Kerala leader Abdullah Kutty, he is the second member of the Muslim community appointed party vice-president.
Keeping in mind upcoming Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, former general secretary Saroj Pandey and former minister in the Chhattisgarh government Lata Usendi, have been appointed vice presidents
In Brief:
A newly elected Trinamool panchayat member was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, police said on July 29. Another person accompanying him was critically injured after being shot at and is undergoing treatment at a hospital. The police, however, are investigating whether the murder was fallout of political rivalry or personal enmity. The incident took place when Magrahat East gram panchayat member Maimur Gharami was returning home late on Friday night, police said.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
