All-party meet on Manipur: Amit Shah gives assurance of restoring peace; Cong says not allowed to speak

New Delhi [India], June 24 : At the all-party meeting convened by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the violence in Manipur on Saturday, he gave an assurance of restoring peace in the state while the opposition parties questioned PM Narendra Modi's 'silence' on the matter.

The meeting was called by Amit Shah to take stock of the situation in the violence-wracked state. BJP national president JP Nadda, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and CPI(M) MP John Brittas among other leaders are present in the meeting.

Violence gripped Manipur on May 3 after clashes erupted during a rally organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) to protest the demand for the inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list.

Union Home Minister, after the meeting, said that all political parties sensitively and apolitically gave their suggestions for restoration of peace in Manipur and the government will consider these suggestions with an open mind.

Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been constantly monitoring the situation in Manipur since day one and guiding us with full sensitivity to find a solution to this problem.

"Modi government is committed to solve the Manipur problem by taking everyone together. The priority of the Modi government is that no more lives should be lost due to violence in the state," the minister added.

The Home Minister solicited the cooperation of all the political parties to help defuse the situation and restore peace and trust among various communities in Manipur at the earliest.

However, Congress has claimed that its representativeformer CM of the state Okram Ibobi Singh was "not allowed" to present his points and called the meeting an "eye-wash and a formality".

Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that it is a matter of "insult" that only the leader from Manipur in the all-party meeting was not allowed to put forth his point of view.

"As the principal Opposition party, our representative the senior most leader from Manipur, 3-time elected CM Okram Ibobi Singh, was not allowed to present his points representing the pain and anguish of the people of Manipur. He was the only leader from Manipur in the all-party meeting today, and it is an insult not only to the former CM and the Congress party, but the people of Manipur, that their representative was not allowed to fully put forth his point of view," Jairam Ramesh tweeted.

He also shared eight points on behalf of his party which includes the immediate removal of the CM of Manipur, without which, according to him "no progress can be made towards peace and normalcy in Manipur".

"The all-party meeting organised by the Home Minister today was just an eye-wash and a formality," he added.

Notably, the BJP is under fire from the Opposition and other quarters over the continuing violence in Manipur.

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi said that the unprecedented violence that has devastated the lives of people in Manipur has "left a deep wound in the conscience of our nation" while appealing for peace and harmony in the state.

Congress has been vocal on Manipur since the outbreak of violence started in the BJP-ruled state.

However, Shah also said that the situation in Manipur is normal as there was no life lost since June 13.

"The situation in Manipur is slowly returning to normal, since the late night of June 13, not a single person has died in violence in the state, so far 1800 looted weapons have been surrendered," Shah said after chairing an all-party meet in New Delhi to discuss the prevailing situations in Manipur.

Talking about the measures taken regarding the situation in Manipur, he further said that 36,000 security personnel are deployed in the state, 40 IPS officers, and 20 medical teams have been sent to the state and the supply of all essential items including medicines is being ensured.

"Fencing work of 10 km of Myanmar-Manipur border has been completed, tendering work for 80 km of border fencing has been completed and survey of remaining border is underway," he added.

Those who attended the meeting included BJP president J P Nadda, former Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh (Congress), Derek O'Brien (TMC), Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Singh (NPP), Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Sikkim Krantikari Morcha), Birendra Prasad Baishya (Asom Gana Parishad), M Thambi Durai (AIADMK), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), Pinaki Misra (BJD), Sanjay Singh (AAP), Manoj Jha (RJD) and Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena).