Any effort for peace must take place in Manipur: Congress on all-party meet called by Amit Shah
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Thursday termed the all-party meeting convened by Home Minister Amit Shah on the Manipur situation as "too little, too late," and said efforts to bring warring factions on the discussion table will lack seriousness if they are done sitting in Delhi.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the entire nation expects a serious intervention from the Union Government.
"Any effort for peace must take place in Manipur, where the warring communities are brought on the discussion table and a political solution is arrived at. This effort will lack seriousness if it is done sitting in Delhi," he said on Twitter.
After 50 days of death and destruction in Manipur, he said, "Home Minister Amit Shah's call for an all-party meeting is too little, too late".
The government only woke up after Sonia Gandhi's address to the people of Manipur, he said.
Shah has called an all-party meeting on the situation in Manipur on June 24.
"At the outset, the PM's absence from such a serious meeting shows his 'cowardice' and 'unwillingness' to confront his failures. Even when multiple delegations sought meetings with him, he had no time for them," the Congress leader alleged.
Noting that the Home Minister himself has presided over this situation and made no progress, he said in fact things have "worsened" since his visit.
"Can we expect genuine peace under his stewardship," he asked.
"Moreover, the continuation of the partisan state government and non-implementation of President's Rule is a travesty," Venugopal charged.
The Congress has been seeking the Centre's immediate intervention in bringing peace to the north eastern state which has been struck by violence since May 3.
The party has also blamed the alleged divisive politics of the BJP for the current situation in Manipur.
Violent clashes broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
So far, nearly 120 people have lost their lives and over 3,000 are injured.
Shah had also visited the state for four days last last month and met a cross sections of people in his efforts to bring back peace in the northeastern state.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses defence minister in surprise announcement
Jerusalem, Nov 5: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region.
Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival. Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust” between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement.
“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister.”
In the early days of the war, Israel's leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack. But as the war dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged. While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for a diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the Hamas group.
Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: “The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life's mission."
Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the October 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu. He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday's announcement.
Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister who was a junior officer in the military. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who recently rejoined the government, will take the foreign affairs post.
Netanyahu has a long history of neutralising his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps with Gallant.
“But they kept getting wider. They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it,” he said.
