On Thursday, opposition members of the parliamentary standing committee left a meeting when the chairman of the body rejected their request to discuss the circumstances in Manipur. Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’Brien, and Congress’ Digvijaya Singh and Pradip Bhattacharya were among those who walked out.
The letter, which was signed by all three MPs, stated that it is their moral and legal obligation as members of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs to debate this issue with the required seriousness and haste.
They further added that some of them had already written to the Chairman last month urging an urgent meeting of the Committee to discuss on Manipur situation, the demand which was not accepted.
”You also informed us that this issue will not be taken up for discussion any time in July. Sir, it is your prerogative to fix the agenda of the meeting. We stand against such an evasion of responsibility to discuss an issue of national importance, and are therefore choosing to walk out of the meeting,” they said.
According to the sources, it’s unlikely that the three will show up to the remaining two meetings this month. They also further said that before leaving the members also insisted BJP MP Biplab Deb to walk out with them since he was from the Northeast.
Previously, O’Brien and Singh had written to Brijlal requesting him to hold a meeting to discuss the situation in Manipur.
The members had congregated for a meeting with state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana to discuss on the subject ‘Prison Conditions, Infrastructure and Reforms’.
The chairperson had separately informed the two MPs that due to three sessions on prison reform scheduled for July, it was not possible to arrange urgent meetings to discuss the Manipur situation. Seven people, including the chairman, were present during the meeting. Since May 3, there have been around 120 fatalities and over 3,000 injuries due to ethnic violence in Manipur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been under criticism by opposition parties for remaining silent on the matter and for “the divide and rule politics of the BJP government at the Centre and in the state, which have failed to manage the violence in Manipur.” The opposition claimed in a letter dated June 19 that “peace is hard to come by” despite Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state.
The first all-party meeting was called under Home Minister Amit Shah, thus the Congress insisted that Prime Minister Modi call another one.
Congressman Gaurav Gogoi stated during a news conference at the AICC’s headquarters that maintaining law and order and safeguarding the lives of its residents are every state government’s top priorities. “I think the governments both in the state and at the Centre have failed to do that,” he alleged.
