MP Bimol Akoijam urges centre not to treat Manipur as ‘vassal state’, seeks discussion on ongoing crisis

Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam on March 23 raised the issue of the ongoing crisis in Manipur during Zero Hour in Parliament, urging the Government of India not to treat the state “as a vassal state of an empire” but as an integral unit of the Union.
 

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Akoijam referred to the killing of engineer Mayanglambam Rishikanta earlier this year and described it as a symbol of the suffering endured by people in the violence-hit state. Rishikanta, a Meitei civilian working in Nepal, was allegedly abducted and shot dead by suspected armed Kuki militants in Churachandpur district when he had returned to meet his fiancée.
 

The MP said that Rishikanta had pleaded for his life with folded hands before being shot. “That hand represents hundreds of people who were killed and thousands who were rendered homeless, asking and pleading for justice,” he said.
 

Akoijam added that the folded hands symbolised the pain and anguish of the people of Manipur who are seeking justice and fixed accountability for the violence witnessed in the state. He stressed that citizens are demanding the rights guaranteed under the Constitution, including free access to highways and airports.
 

“This House is requested to spare some time to discuss the way forward and to deliberate on this denial of human rights in the state,” he said, appealing for a detailed discussion in Parliament.
 

He further urged the Centre not to treat Manipur as subordinate. “It is a state, a unit of the Union of India,” he asserted.
 

The remarks come amid continuing concerns over law and order and displacement in parts of Manipur following ethnic violence that has affected several districts over the past months.