PM Manipur Visit: Modi Will Visit Manipur For The First Time After Violence; What Congress Said? What local organizations said?
PM Modi Manipur Visit: PM Modi will visit Manipur on Saturday. This visit is taking place at a time when the situation in the state is gradually returning to normal after the violence that erupted between the Meitei and Kuki tribes two years ago and after the opposition's constant criticism of his silence and absence.
PM will meet the violence-affected people in Imphal and Churachandpur and will launch development projects.
State Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goyal said that peace is not just the absence of violence, but mutual trust, reconciliation and harmony are also necessary. This visit of the Prime Minister is considered important for the restoration of normalcy in the state and opening new avenues of development.
PM Modi will reach Churachandpur at around 11:30 am, where he will visit the headquarters of the Kuki-Zo majority Churachandpur district, and later proceed to Imphal, the state capital located in the Meitei majority valley, at 2 pm. He is scheduled to interact with people displaced by the conflict and make public addresses, as part of which he will inaugurate and lay foundation stones for various projects.
PM will lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects
Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth over Rs 7,300 crore at Churachandpur. The projects include Manipur Urban Roads, drainage and asset management improvement project worth over Rs 3,600 crore; 5 National Highway projects worth more than Rs 2,500 crore; Manipur Infotech Development (MIND) project, Working Women Hostels at 9 locations, among others.
Prime Minister will also inaugurate multiple development projects worth more than Rs 1,200 crore at Imphal. They include the Civil Secretariat at Mantripukhri; IT SEZ Building and New Police Headquarters at Mantripukhri; Manipur Bhawans at Delhi and Kolkata; and Ima Markets, unique all women's market, in 4 districts.
Congress raised questions, called it a symbolic visit
On the other hand, the opposition has raised questions about this visit of the Prime Minister. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the Prime Minister's stay of only three hours in the state will not strengthen peace and harmony, rather it will all turn into a political spectacle. The Manipur unit president of the Congress also called it only symbolic and said that it will neither provide justice nor a permanent solution.
Mixed enthusiasm among the local people
There is mixed enthusiasm among the local people about the Prime Minister's visit. Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanjaoba has called it a matter of good fortune for the state. Kuki-Zo organizations have also welcomed this visit and called it a historic and rare opportunity.
While Modi's visit has been welcomed by the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo, their statements have been framed in contrasting ways. While the Kuki-Zos have asked for a separate state or Union Territory, a Meitei group has called for an NRC-like exercise to detect undocumented immigrants and address what it sees as “demographic imbalance.”
Prakash Kumar Pandey