New Delhi: In an emotionally-charged speech in the Lok Sabha, Congress' Outer Manipur MP Alfred Arthur urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to visit the violence-hit state and asked, "Can you not hear the cries of the women and children who cannot go back to their homes"?
Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Union Budget for 2024-25, Arthur launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led NDA government and asked why Union ministers had not visited Manipur since May 3, 2023, when they used to visit the northeastern state almost every week before that.
He also asked the Prime Minister why Chief Minister N Biren Singh has not been replaced and wondered why is it so difficult to replace one man for "bringing peace".
"One community is saying one person has originated this conflict. You have 49 more members other than the Chief Minister. The Prime Minister could have replaced him. Is it so difficult to replace one man to bring peace? If you cannot bring peace in a small state, how will you maintain peace in such a large country?" Arthur asked.
"My state has been in the news for all the wrong reasons for the last 15 months. I have gone through the Budget Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has placed before the House. I think she fails to understand that at this juncture, Manipur is the lowest per-capita-income-bearing state and has the highest inflation. How do you expect a state that is lowest in income and paying highest prices to survive?" Arthur asked.
Citing the ethnic conflict and the worst floods in the state in the last 35 years, he slammed the finance minister for presenting an "anti-people" Budget.
"And the finance minister grins from ear to ear and places a Budget that is anti-people. Madam, you do not need rocket science to understand the dynamics of what is people-friendly and what goes against the interest of a nation," he said.
Arthur said he hails from a family that has sacrificed for building the nation.
"My granduncle, Major Bob Khathing, was responsible for our nation celebrating the area called Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The name that I have is given by him. Today, you are burning my state. I do not think when he proceeded in doing service to the nation way back in the 1950s, he ever thought that this nation would let go of his people," Arthur said.
In a scathing attack on Modi, he said the Prime Minister and everyone else in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) keeps saying "Modiji hai toh sab mumkin hai" and "jahan Modiji hai, nyay dilayenge", and asked where is the justice for Manipur.
"My family has spilt blood for nurturing this country. We are not betrayers to this nation. We deserve an equal Budget, it is my right. My electorate has not sent me to listen to the bhashans (speeches) or about the fictitious figures that have been brought before this august House," the Congress MP said.
Noting that the country is bigger than individuals, Arthur said he grew up and studied with wonderful friends representing different races, religions and communities.
"I have never felt the need to say I am a Christian. I do not ever want to speak out that I am a Christian or I am a Hindu or Muslim...," he said.
Since the NDA came to power in 2014, there was not a single week that went by without a Union minister visiting Manipur, he said.
"Where are they after May 3, 2023? After 2023, not one minister was seen in Manipur," he said.
"I want to ask my Prime Minister, he has a 56-inch chest, is a strong Prime Minister.... Our own citizens are not even getting food, they have been in refugee camps. Ask your Chief Minister, who throughout the day talks only about violence. What is this? Is this my country? My family did not sacrifice to see all this. For the sacrifices my family has made for this country, get me justice, it is my right," Arthur said.
The Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah should correct the course and visit Manipur, he added.
"We are all Indian citizens. Why do you not want to come to Manipur? We have heard your 'Mann ki Baat' for 10 years. Can you not hear the cries of the women and children who cannot go back to their homes?" he asked.
The Congress MP narrated how the people of the Imphal valley cannot move to other parts of Manipur.
Arthur thanked Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for visiting Manipur thrice since ethnic clashes broke out in the northeastern state.
He also thanked other leaders of the I.N.D.I.A. opposition bloc, such as Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress' Mamata Banaerjee, NCP-SP's Sharad Pawar and DMK's M K Stalin, for keeping the Manipur issue alive in the House and urging the government to give it priority.
Arthur said when Gandhi visited Manipur in August last year, Congress leaders met the Governor and suggested that the Naga community's help may be taken in restoring peace in the state as it had remained neutral in the conflict and could talk to both sides.
Manipur plunged into violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities in May 2023. Since then some 200 people have been killed and thousands displaced.