I.N.D.I.A parties to stage first protest against Centre over Manipur violence issue on July 24

The I.N.D.I.A parties will have their first protest action on Monday when MPs belonging to the grouping will organise a ‘dharna’ near the Gandhi Statue in Parliament against the Narendra Modi government’s alleged mishandling of the Manipur issue.

Sources said the protest that is to begin at 10:30 am on Monday would see participation of MPs from all Opposition parties linked to the newly-minted I.N.D.I.A consisting of 26 parties.

While all the 26 parties do not have MPs, lawmakers from at least 16 parties are likely to participate in the protest. The parties have been questioning the silence of the Prime Minister in Parliament on the issue.

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The Opposition said the Prime Minister will have to first make a statement on the issue and then they could take up a discussion on it. However, the government has not committed to Modi’s response on the issue while it has said Home Minister Amit Shah would reply to the debate.

In both the Houses, the ruling BJP has made it clear that they are willing for a discussion but has not met the Opposition demand over Modi’s intervention.

Modi made his first remarks on the Manipur issue on Thursday when he spoke to the media before the Parliament Session started. He said that strict action would be taken against the culprits behind the parading of women naked in Manipur.

The Opposition has said he has not spoken about the ethnic violence in the state and that he chose to link the Manipur issue with some crime against women in non-BJP ruled states while ignoring such incidents in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat among others.

The first two days of Monsoon Session has been a washout as the Opposition stepped up their protest demanding Modi’s statement on the issue.