Manipur unrest: Congress questions PM Modi's "insensitivity", President's Rule

After tensions erupted in parts of Manipur on June 7 night, the Congress targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "insensitivity" to the suffering of people in the state, adding that President's Rule did not make any difference.

Taking to his official X handle, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the pain, distress, and agony of the people of Manipur continues unabated as five districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Katching, and Bishnupur in Manipur have been rocked by violence in the last 24 hours.

A day after violent protests erupted in Manipur over the arrest of a leader of Meitei outfit Arambai Tenggol, the situation remained tense on Sunday with the administration imposing prohibitory orders and suspending internet services in five Imphal valley districts, police said.

Prohibitory orders have been clamped in Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Bishnupur and Kakching districts, while internet and mobile data services, including VSAT and VPN facilities, have been suspended in these valley areas.

Hitting out at the government, Ramesh claimed that in February 2022 the BJP "engineered a majority for itself alone" in the assembly elections.

"But less than fifteen months later from the night of May 3, 2023 Manipur was made to burn. Hundreds of innocent men, women, and children were killed. Thousands were displaced. Places of worship were destroyed," he said.

On June 4, 2023, the Congress leader said the Union Government set up a three-member Commission of Inquiry. That Commission has been given repeated extensions to submit its report and the latest deadline given to it is November 20, 2025, he noted.

On August 1, 2023, Ramesh said the Supreme Court observed that there had been an "absolute breakdown of constitutional machinery" in the state for the past two months.

"The Union Home Minister went through the motions of visiting Manipur while the PM maintained absolute silence refusing to say anything and meet anybody from the state.

"Demands were made by the Indian National Congress for the imposition of President's Rule to begin with. That was ignored till the INC announced that it was bringing a no-confidence motion against the CM in the assembly session beginning February 10, 2025. The BJP read the writing on the wall, got the CM to resign on the night of Feb 9, 2025, and finally imposed President's Rule on February 13, 2025," he said.

"President's Rule, however, has made no difference," Ramesh said.

He claimed the Governor himself has been forced to travel from Imphal airport to his residence by helicopter.Law and order in many parts of the state remains in a state of peril, he added.

"When will the PM find the time and inclination to visit Manipur? His drum-beaters once claimed that he had stopped the war between Ukraine and Russia for a while. That claim, like most of his boasts, proved completely bogus.

"The PM has travelled to different parts of the world and visited numerous states of our country to do his trademark inaugurations. But he has never met with political leaders or civil society organisations from Manipur having outsourced the management of the state's affairs to the Union Home Minister who has failed miserably," the Congress general secretary alleged.

"The insensitivity of the Frequent Flyer PM to the suffering of the people of Manipur is truly shocking and defies understanding. He stands totally exposed just as the people of the state continue to pay the price of his callous and complete indifference. Their suffering is that of not only the state and the northeastern region but of the entire country," Ramesh said in his post.