A 21-member delegation of opposition lawmakers of India today reached Manipur’s capital city Imphal to have a first-hand assessment of the ground situation in the state rocked by ethnic strife.
After reaching the state capital, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the team is not there for politics and is trying for peaceful solutions to end the conflict in Manipur. Party MP Gaurav Gogoi told ANI that they came to Manipur to represent the concerns of the people in the state, our New Delhi correspondent.
For all latest news, follow The My News’s Google News channel. During their two-day stay in the state, the opposition parliamentarians are expected to visit relief camps where at least 50,000 people driven out of their homes by the ethnic violence since May 3 are sheltered.
The violence between majority Metei community and minority Kuki ethnic group in Manipur has claimed more than 160 lives.
The delegation would meet Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey who has already visited the relief camps.
The visit by the opposition delegation to Manipur came after the opposition’s demand seeking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on the issue inside both Houses of Parliament on the Manipur issue has disrupted the proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for almost a week.
The Lok Sabha, the lower House of Indian parliament, has admitted a no-confidence motion by the Congress and backed by a number of other opposition parties in a bid to force Modi to make a statement inside the House on the Manipur issue. Date of the debate on the motion would be announced by Speaker Om Birla.
In a related development, the Central Bureau of Investigation has taken over the probe into the case of parading naked and alleged sexual assault of two Kuki women by a mob in Manipur on May 4, a video clip of which went viral on social media platforms earlier this month, officials said today.
The video went viral on July 19, triggering a massive outrage across India.
Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary told reporters before leaving for Manipur that they want to visit as many relief camps in Manipur as possible and talk to the affected people.
