Amit Shah mounts a robust defence of the goverment's action to quell violence in Manipur

Home minister's speech of around 2 hours was also a punchy defence of the BJP govt's achievements since 2014, keeping the focus on its programmes on gas cylinders, tap water and how many toilets had been built in the last nine years

Union Home Minister Amit Shah participates in the discussion on the Motion of No-Confidence in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi.: PTI picture

Paran Balakrishnan, TT, 09.08.23 : In a marathon two-hour speech, Union Home Minister Amit Shah came out swinging with a strong defence of the BJP government’s actions in Manipur and gave a detailed account of how the crisis had built up and what the government had done to bring the situation under control.

Shah also turned his guns on the Opposition and the no-confidence motion, saying: “The violence in Manipur is shameful. But what is more shameful is doing politics over it.”

The Home Minister began his speech by outlining in minute detail the government’s overall achievements in the last nine years before finally turning to the northeast and Manipur one hour and 14 minutes after he had begun speaking.

Shah pointed to the fact that the government has been working hard to stifle the violence in Manipur and that it had taken action almost immediately after the video of the naked women being assaulted by a mob had become public. He also insisted it was highly suspicious that the video which had been made in May had become public only one day before Parliament’s monsoon session was scheduled to begin.

Listing the government’s actions, Shah pointed to the fact that 36,000 army personnel had been positioned in different parts of the state and that he had spent three days there. In addition, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai had been stationed in Manipur for over 20 days.

Shah insisted that the government had acted firmly to quell the violence and that 14,898 people from all tribes had been arrested for creating trouble since May 3. Also, he insisted that the falling death toll indicated that the violence had not stopped but it had come down sharply. According to Home Ministry figures, in May 107 people died in clashes with rival tribes or the police. Shah said this fell to 30 in June and 15 in July. Shah added that out of the 107 people killed in May, 68 died in the first three days after the clashes began. Said Shah: ”What I want to say here is that violence is reducing gradually and we should not add oil to the fire.”

The Home Minister outlined how a series of events had combined to trigger the violence. Part of the problem, he said, was that Kuki tribals across the border in Myanmar were fighting against the government. In turn the Myanmar government had begun strong action against them and even launched bombing raids. As a result, many Kukis had crossed the open border and taken refuge in India.

India and Myanmar have an open border and therefore it is easy for fleeing refugees to cross the border. Shah said the government had put up 10km of trial fencing two years ago and was looking to do the rest in the near future.

The Manipur High Court’s judgement in March including the Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribes list further piled fuel on the uncertainties already prevailing in the state, Shah said.

Insisting that the government had no intention of changing the balance of the tribals in the state, Shah told the Lok Sabha: “Let’s sit together to talk and resolve the issues. The Government of India has no intention of changing the (state’s) demography.” He added: “We are in discussions with the Meitei community and also the Kuki community.”

Reiterating his point, Shah appealed to the two communities to come together and talk: “I appeal to both Meitei and Kuki communities to shun violence and hold talks with the government,” he said.

The Home Minister attacked the Opposition, saying he had been willing to speak earlier in the session but the Opposition had blocked him by insisting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should make a statement in the House. “I am ready to answer. It is my duty. I am answerable towards the nation, this Parliament and the Opposition. But they won’t let me speak. What kind of a democracy is this,” he said.

Defending the government’s actions in the northeast, Shah also pointed out that there had not been a curfew in Manipur for the last six years since the BJP had taken charge there. He also insisted that Modi had worked hard, unlike previous governments, to take progress to the region.

Shah prefaced his explanation of what had happened in Manipur with a lengthy defence of the Modi Government’s overall track record and attacked almost every government before 2014. “For 30 years this country had been going through corruption. Before 2014 they were playing caste or family based politics. Narendra Modi dumped all that,” he declared.

Shah’s speech was a punchy defence of the government’s actions since 2014 and he kept the focus on the government’s programme on gas cylinders, tap water and how many toilets have been built in the last nine years. “You talked about it. We did it,” he said.

The Home Minister referred several times to the fact that yesterday was the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India which was launched in 1942. But he twisted the anniversary around to say it was time to have a Quit India for family politics and corruption.

Shah turned to Manipur only 1 hour and 14 minutes into his lengthy speech, when most listeners had concluded that his speech was, “long and boring”. However, after a full two hours he appeared to have turned this around.