Imphal, Manipur

Shri Rahul Gandhi said- I would like to welcome all of you here. It’s the third time I have come here since the problem started. It has been a tremendous tragedy. Frankly, I was expecting some improvement in the situation, but I was quite disappointed to see that the situation is still no way near what it should be. I visited the camps and heard the people there, and 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. Thousands of families have been harmed, property has 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. I want to tell all the people of Manipur – I come here as your brother, I come here as somebody who wants to help you, who wants to work with you to bring back peace in Manipur and I am ready to do whatever I can, Congress party is ready to do whatever it can to bring back peace here. We had a conversation with the Governor and we expressed to the Governor that we would like to help in whatever way we can. We also expressed our displeasure and we said that we are not happy with the progress that has taken place here. I don’t want to go further into politicising this issue, it’s not my intention. As I said, I come here as a brother, as a family member and I understand that the entire Manipur… all of it… is in pain, is suffering and needs to get out of this suffering as soon as possible. So that’s my message. I would request everybody to think about peace, to think about brotherhood; and violence and hatred is not going to get any solution. So, if we can start to think about peace, start to think about affection, it will be a very-very big step for Manipur.

The Congress party and me… we are available, anytime you want me to come here. You want me to come here 5 times, 10 times… any amount of times you want me to come, I am happy to come here and I am happy to listen to what you have to say and try to help you as a leader of the Opposition. Thank you very much. I want to be very clear about the message I am giving here. I don’t want to go into questions and answers. The clear message I am giving here is that we have come here to listen to the people of Manipur. The people of Manipur need to be heard. They’re in pain, they are in suffering and the Indian Government and everybody, who considers himself as patriot, must reach out and embrace the people of Manipur and bring peace to Manipur.

I feel that it is important that the Prime Minister come here, listen to the people of Manipur, try and understand what is going on in Manipur. After all Manipur is a proud state of the Indian union and it is very important that the Prime Minister… even if it wasn’t a tragedy, even if there was no tragedy… the Prime Minister should have come to Manipur. And in this huge tragedy, I request the Prime Minister to take one day, two days of his time and just come and listen to the people of Manipur. It will comfort the people of Manipur and we, as the Congress party, are ready to support anything that would improve the situation here

July 8, 2024

COURTESY: INC