MPs from INDIA to visit Manipur on July 29, 30

PTI, July 27, 2023 : A group of MPs from the opposition alliance INDIA will visit Manipur on July 29 and 30 to assess the situation in the northeastern state which has been engulfed in ethnic violence since May 3.

The delegation of more than 20 opposition MPs will visit Manipur this weekend and will take a first-hand account of the situation in the state, Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore told PTI.

Sources said that one MP each from the INDIA bloc parties or their representatives are expected to be part of the delegation.

The delegation will visit both the valley and the hill regions of the state and meet different communities there. They will also visit some relief camps.

Trinamool Congress's Sushmita Dev, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Mahua Maji and Nationalist Congress Party's Vandana Chavan are likely to be part of the delegation.

Earlier, the opposition bloc had wanted a delegation of chief ministers to visit the state but the idea was dropped due to logistical issues, sources said.

 Opposition MPs wear black clothes to mark a protest against the Manipur violence and demanding discussion over it at the Parliament premises during the monsoon session, in New Delhi on July 27, 2023

The opposition bloc had been demanding that a delegation of their leaders be allowed to visit the state but till now they had been denied permission in view of the situation there.

However, earlier two delegations -- one from the Left and another from TMC - visited the state.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also visited a few places in Manipur earlier.

The opposition has been demanding a statement from the prime minister in Parliament on the situation in ethnic strife-torn Manipur followed by a full-fledged discussion on it.

The northeastern state of Manipur has been engulfed in ethnic violence since May 3, in which more than 160 people have lost their lives.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the proposed visit to the ethnic strife-hit Manipur  "will do good". 

Speaking at the Assembly, Mamata said she had also sought permission from the Centre for a visit to Manipur, but it was denied.  

"A team of INDIA is visiting Manipur. It'll do good. Let them go and see the situation themselves, talk to the people there, and listen to them. I had written to them (Centre) to allow me to go, but I was not given permission," the TMC supremo said.

Ethnic violence broke out in Manipur nearly three months ago, killing over 160 people since then, and injuring hundreds. 

The violence erupted on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity  March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 percent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside  mainly in the hill districts.