The all-party meeting held by home minister Amit Shah on June 24 to address the Manipur crisis has been rejected by the Congress, who claim that the Prime Minister's absence rendered the exercise pointless.
Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Manipur is burning for 50 days but the Prime Minister remained silent. The all-party meeting has been called when the Prime Minister is not in the country. It’s clear, this meeting is not important for the Prime Minister.”
Jairam Ramesh, head of communications for Congress, said Prime Minister remained silent. Additionally, he declined to meet with political parties, MLAs, and Manipur-based members of his own party. He also said that If the prime minister isn't present, what good is it to have an all-party gathering. And when peace and reconciliation are needed in Manipur, it is useless to hold a meeting in Delhi. "The dereliction of duty by the Prime Minister is beyond comprehension. It’s bizarre."
Ramesh added: “It is a colossal failure of the so-called double-engine sarkar. It’s a failure of both the central and state government. The Prime Minister is the best person to show that we care, to express the anguish of India. We still hope. He is in the US and then goes to Egypt. We hope somewhere he decides to break his silence. On crucial national issues, he keeps quiet even as he gives gyan on everything under the sun.”
K.C. Venugopal, general secretary in charge of the organization, said: “Well after 50 days of death and destruction in Manipur, home minister Amit Shah’s call for an all-party meeting is too little, too late. The government only woke up after Sonia Gandhi’s address to the people of Manipur. At the outset, the Prime Minister’s absence from such a serious meeting shows his cowardice and unwillingness to confront his failures.”
Venugopal added: “Even when multiple delegations sought meetings with him, he had no time for them. The home minister himself has presided over this situation and made no progress, in fact, things have worsened since his visit. Can we expect genuine peace under his stewardship?”
"Moreover, the continuation of the partisan state government and non-implementation of the President’s rule is a travesty. Any effort for peace must take place in Manipur, where warring communities are brought to the discussion table and a political solution is arrived at. This effort will lack seriousness if it is done sitting in Delhi. The entire nation expects a serious intervention from the Union government, which has been missing in action so far.”
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