Congress slams Modi govt over Manipur unrest
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday attacked the Modi government over the situation in Manipur, accusing it of being apathetic and remorseless.
In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge noted that Manipur started burning exactly a year ago on May 3, 2023.
"Humanity perished in Manipur The cruel combination of an apathetic Modi Government and an inept BJP State Government have virtually divided the state into two halves.
"A remorseless PM Modi has not set foot in this border state, for it exposes his rank incompetency and absolute indifference. His ego has damaged the social fabric of a beautiful state," he charged in a post on X.
Kharge noted that the people of Manipur, from all communities now know how the BJP made their lives miserable.
"People of Northeast, now know that Modi Government's shameless drumbeating about so called development drowned the voices of humanity in the region. People of India, now know that PM Modi and his Government has no iota of sympathy for the countless lives they destroyed in Manipur," the Congress chief said.
He claimed that more than 220 people have been killed, 60,000 people have been displaced and thousands, including women and children, still continue to languish in camps.
"Women were raped, paraded and horrific violence took place, but the PM kept quiet. Only after outrage, that the PM bothered to pay lip-service in August 2023, which now reverberates hollow," he alleged.
Our security personnel are getting martyred. Police trainees of two communities shot at each other and arms and ammunition were looted, he claimed.
In January, we witnessed, how an armed group coerced MPs/MLAs to attend a meeting at the heavily guarded Kangla Fort, where @INCManipur President was brutally assaulted and tortured, he said.
Kharge claimed that there is no semblance of governance in Manipur and that law and order has collapsed.
"With deep sense of sadness, we pay our tribute to the countless innocent lives who suffered this unimaginable violence and who are still suffering, searching for a glimmer of hope for peace to return.
"Due to the BJP, normalcy and peace evades Manipur," the Congress president alleged questioning the silence of the Modi government and the prime minister on the situation in the north eastern state.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the prime minister of abandoning the people of Manipur and outsourcing the management of the state to the Home Minister, who, he charged, has proved to be "hopelessly inadequate, insensitive, and incompetent".
"Exactly a year ago today, Manipur erupted - or more accurately, was made to erupt by the cynical and divisive politics of the ruling BJP," he alleged.
"Hundreds of people have been killed, thousands have been displaced, and Manipur’s communities now live in a deep-rooted suspicion of each other.Security forces themselves are routinely attacked and armed militias enjoying official patronage rule the roost...What is astounding is that just fifteen months earlier in the assembly elections the BJP and its allies had received a thundering mandate. That mandate evaporated on May 3rd 2023 entirely because of the BJP's own (mis)calculations and manipulations," he said.
Even amidst this "civil war-like situation", the prime minister has been eloquent in his silence, Ramesh said criticising Modi for not visiting Manipur even for a few minutes, even though he has been to Assam, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh for his campaign.
The Congress leader charged that the situation in Manipur today is the doing of the Modi Sarkar’s policy of ‘Bluff and Rule,’ which has characterised its actions in the Northeast.
"It is a shortsighted policy that prioritises stringing communities and stakeholders along for as long as possible, without meaningfully addressing their concerns. It has blown apart the social fabric of Manipur, and it is now blowing apart Nagaland as well. The voter turnout in six districts of Eastern Nagaland, which went to polls in Phase I of the Lok Sabha elections, was a very high zero - which even the Election Commission could not revise to a higher number. The PM has talked of trailers: Manipur is itself a trailer of what the BJP will do to our wonderful diversity, he said.
"The pain and agony of the people of Manipur is the pain and agony of the people of India. RahulGandhi has visited Manipur twice in the last year, and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra began in Imphal on the 14th of January, 2024. Today is a day when we empathise with the people of all sections of Manipur society and hope that peace and social harmony will once again return soon," he added.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
