Prime minister Narendra Modi on Aug 10 said in Lok Sabha that the violence which has taken place in Manipur, especially against women, is unpardonable and those responsible will soon be punished.

In his more than two-hour long reply to the no-confidence motion, the prime minister gave an assurance that peace will prevail in Manipur, and that it will march forward on the path of development.

The mention of Manipur in his speech, however, came 1.52 hours into his speech, and by that time, the opposition had walked out of the house.

The BJP-ruled state government in Manipur has been trying to resolve the situation prevailing there for the past six years and the efforts will continue in the future too, Modi said.

Moreover, the three-day debate which ended with Modi’s speech, saw the Opposition’s no confidence motion defeated by the voice vote in the lower house.

PM talks about Manipur

“The entire country and the house is with Manipur. We will together ensure peace there,” he said.

However, he said that all efforts to ensure peace in the state should be free of politics.

He launched an all-out attack on the Congress party, saying that it was during the Opposition party’s tenure that there was unrest in the Northeast, insurgency prevailed, blockades happened, militants ruled the roost and the national anthem was not played in schools and other government institutions.

“The Opposition’s pain and compassion for Manipur is selective. Congress has always given step-motherly treatment to the Northeast and deliberately kept it underdeveloped for several years. However, for us, Northeast is part of our heart. I have travelled to every nook and corner of the region and have an emotional attachment with the Northeast,” he said.

“They have portrayed the situation in Manipur as if violence erupted there suddenly. Yesterday, the home minister had in detail explained in the house, how the circumstances led to the current situation. It is only the Congress which is responsible for the situation there, as it was during their previous tenures that a peaceful state got engulfed in the fire of insurgency,” the prime minister added.

He recounted certain incidents of violence in northeastern states during the regime of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and blamed the Congress for all the ills in the region.

Opposition’s walkout

The mention of Manipur in the PM’s speech came only after the opposition had walked out from the Lok Sabha over PM Modi’s lack of reference to Manipur.

The opposition repeatedly sought his response on Manipur, even as the prime minister launched an all-out attack on the Congress during his marathon speech.

Later, even AIMIM and Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) members staged a walkout.

As the Congress-led opposition staged a walkout, around 90 minutes after the Prime Minister began speaking, Modi said that the government has always been ready for a discussion on Manipur, however, the Opposition always shied away from it and believed in running away.

“They lie and abuse and then they run away. They were never interested in discussing Manipur. We asked them to come and discuss, but their intentions were not good and therefore they ran away,” Modi said.

Source: IANS

-Edited for style

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