New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Shri Rahul Gandhi visited Manipur on July 8, 2024, his first visit after becoming Leader of Opposition to the violence-torn north-eastern state since Lok Sabha elections and said that while he had hoped that the situation would have improved, it “is still nowhere near what it should be” and requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the violence-torn state.

Almost14-month-long conflict in the state, which began on May 3 last year, has resulted in more than 200 deaths and over 60,000 people being displaced and forced to live in relief camps. The divide between the Kukis and Meiteis has only widened over the past year.

Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi visited relief camps in Churachandpur, Moirang as well as in Jiribam. Later, Shri Rahul Gandhi also met Manipur Governor Smt. Anusuiya Uikey. “It’s the third time I have come here since the problem started and it has been a tremendous tragedy. I was expecting some improvement in the situation but I was disappointed to see that the situation is still nowhere near what it should be,” he said while addressing media persons in Imphal.

“I visited the camps and heard the people there, heard their pain. I came here to listen to them, to build confidence in them and as somebody who is in the opposition, to try and apply pressure on the government so that it acts. Here, the need of the hour is peace. Violence is hurting everybody,” Shri Rahul Gandhi said.

“Thousands of families have been harmed, properties have been destroyed, family members have been killed and I have never seen anywhere in India what is going on here. The state is completely split in two and it is a tragedy for everybody involved.”

The physical divide in the state hinges on ethnicity and has resulted in the state being virtually divided into two – between the Meiteis populated valley area and the Kuki-Zo populated hilly areas. Meiteis cannot go to the hilly areas, while the Kuki-Zo who live in the hills cannot go to the valley areas including the capital Imphal, which has better facilities, including government hospitals and the state’s only airport.

Shri Gandhi said that Modi, who has not visited the state since the violence broke out, must visit to understand the ground reality. “I feel that it is important that the Prime Minister to come here, listen to the people of Manipur, try and understand what is going on. After all, Manipur is a proud state of the Indian union. Even if there was no tragedy, the Prime Minister should have come here. And in this huge tragedy, I request the Prime Minister to take one-two days to come here and try and listen to the people of Manipur. It will comfort the people of Manipur,” he said.

Manipur Congress President Keisham Meghachandra told the reporters that during his visit to Jiribam early in the morning, Shri Rahul Gandhi spoke to people in the relief camp. And the people of this Jiribam district are very happy. Shri Rahul Gandhi spoke with them and they shared their pain and also expressed many things like the sorrows of students and women,” he said. “Prime Minister said in parliament that Manipur is returning to normalcy. But you see prior to Shri Rahul Gandhi’s visit, today itself, close firing happened about 10km away from Jiribam headquarters. It is not that normalcy is returning that has been stated by the Prime Minister. So violence is still continuing. This visit is a peace mission. It shows that Rahul Gandhi loves the people of Manipur.

Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi on his visit to Manipur was accompanied by Congress General Secretary (Organisation) and MP Shri K.C. Venugopal, Manipur PCC President Shri Keisham Meghchandra, State Congress leaders as well as newly elected MPs Angomcha Bimol Akoijam (Inner Manipur) and Alfred Kanngam Arthur (Outer Manipur).

A delegation of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) submitted a memorandum to Shri Gandhi.

In another memorandum submitted to Shri Gandhi, the Kuki Students’ Organisation in Churachandpur district has urged for exam centres in the area so that students can take All-India competitive exams, and helicopter facilities from Lamka to Aizawl, Lamka to Kangpokpi, Lamka to Moreh to ease travel, among others. The Kuki Women’s Organisation for Human Rights in its memorandum has highlighted sexual violence being used as a “method or tactic of warfare” and that the shutdown of internet services in the state has prevented these abuses from becoming known.

In a post on X (Twitter), he urged the Centre to extend all help to the flood-affected Assam.

The state needs a “comprehensive and compassionate vision-relief, rehabilitation and compensation in the short term, and a pan-Northeast water management authority to do everything necessary to control floods in the long term’’, Shri Rahul Gandhi said.