Taking it to the microblogging site X, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi today shared a video of his visit to the relief camps in the conflict-hit northeastern state of Manipur. Through the video, the Congress leader has also urged PM Modi to visit the ethnic violence-hit state.
Highlighting the distress he witnessed in the state embroiled in ethnic violence for over a year, Gandhi said, “Houses are burning, innocent lives are in danger and thousands of families are forced to live in relief camps.”
After visiting the state for the third time since the violence broke out in May 2023, Rahul Gandhi said that even today the state is divided into two parts.
In the five-minute-long video, Gandhi was seen sitting amid many people and interacting with them while consoling several bereaved family members of those who lost lives.
“I can raise the issue and put pressure. But I can't assure you about going back. Because that question will be answered by the government. In the next session, I'll speak for you” Rahul Gandhi told the inhabitants at the Moirang relief camp.
One of the women from the Jiribam relief camp in Manipur says in the video that her grandmother is still stuck in a place of conflict and they do not know about her whereabouts.
The ethnic clash broke out on May 3 last year in Churachandpur following a Kuki-led solidarity march on protest against a Manipur high court order directing the state government to consider the inclusion of the Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribes list.
This promptly snowballed into a widespread conflict involving the two warring factions- the Kukis and the Meiteis- which affected the entire state and reportedly claimed over 220 lives.
