Mallikarjun Kharge urges Amit Shah to take action over torture of Manipur Congress president

The alleged assault on K. Meghachandra took place at the “heavily guarded” Kangla Fort in Imphal during a meeting of Meitei ministers, MPs and MLAs convened by an 'armed group' on January 24

Kharge in Dehradun on Sunday.: PTI picture

Umanand Jaiswal, TT, Guwahati, 29.01.24 : Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has requested Union home minister Amit Shah to act urgently against those who “brutally assaulted and tortured” Manipur Congress president K. Meghachandra.

The alleged assault took place at the “heavily guarded” Kangla Fort in Imphal during a meeting of Meitei ministers, MPs and MLAs convened by an “armed group” on January 24.

In a representation to Shah on Saturday night, Kharge said many of those at the meeting had been “compelled and coerced to attend this meeting by an armed group”, and that during the meeting, the state Congress president was “brutally assaulted and tortured”.

Kharge stressed that the “shocking” incident had occurred despite the heavy presence of central and state security forces and intelligence personnel in Manipur. “Till date, there has been no action from the Manipur CM and the (Union) home ministry on this very disturbing subversion of democratic processes by a non-state actor,” Kharge said. “It is shameful that the Prime Minister’s eloquent silence when it comes to Manipur seems to be the prevailing strategy from all important stakeholders in both the state and the Centre.”

Kharge reminded Shah that “governments come and go, but it is the responsibility of constitutional functionaries to ensure that democratic structures, institutions and processes are protected and preserved”.

“…I urge you to take urgent action to ensure that democracy and the rule of law prevails once more,” he said.

Kharge did not name the “armed group” or “non-state actor” that had called the meeting. Police have said the Arambai Tenggol, a Meitei socio-cultural group, had “summoned” Meitei MLAs and MPs from the valley districts to the meeting.

The meeting was called to discuss issues linked to the ongoing ethnic unrest and take a pledge to protect the integrity of Manipur. The MLAs and MPs endorsed the six resolutions adopted by the group at the meeting to safeguard Manipur.

A news website has reported that besides Meghachandra, two MLAs from the state’s ruling BJP — Paonam Brojen Singh and Khwairakpam Raghumani Singh — were “roughed up”.

Meghachandra was reportedly assaulted because he had suggested that the BJP-led state authorities were responsible for the ongoing unrest.