 "Sachin Pilot")
Slamming the BJP-led Centre over its handling of violence-hit Manipur, Congress leader Sachin Pilot has alleged that such a situation was "allowed to fester" in the state and asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not holding a "genuine" all-party meeting on it.
He also hit out at Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, saying that he had lost the moral and political right to govern the state.
"A small state like Manipur which deserved to be handled with care, with empathy and compassion, there is no accountability, so many people have lost their lives. The government has lost the moral authority to govern, and no one is responsible, nobody in the state, nobody in the ruling party, nobody in Delhi is answering questions," Pilot said.
"Mr. Rahul Gandhi went to Manipur to meet people. It was an effort, not a political effort to get brownie points for anything, but to make sure people feel that despite religious divisions and societal divisions, there are people who want to go and heal the wounds, reduce the pain and share the concern," he told PTI in an interview.
Noting that many people have lost their lives in over two months, Pilot said there was no accountability over it.
This has never happened before and here is a government that talks about 'sabka saath, sabka vikaas', he said, slamming the Centre.
"Is Manipur not part of our country? Those citizens that are suffering what is their fault. My worry is that it (situation) has been allowed to fester. The Chief Minister (N Biren Singh), I think, has lost the moral and political right to govern the state," Pilot said.
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He said the citizens are in pain in Manipur, there are internal migrations, killings and brutality everywhere.
"Unfortunately, honourable PM, not a word (from him). You can tweet about birthdays and festivals all day long but why are you not having a genuine all-party meeting, why is the government not being taken to task, why is no one answering for the atrocities that are happening on a daily basis. It is very unfortunate and I hope this ends sooner rather than later," Pilot said.
Former Congress chief Gandhi had paid a two-day visit to Manipur last week and appealed for peace, saying "violence is no solution".
The Congress has alleged that the BJP and its "divisive politics" are responsible for the present situation in the state.
Over 100 people have died and many hundreds injured in the ethnic violence in Manipur since May 3.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
