Silence on Manipur not normal: MP Akoijam
New Delhi, Jul 2: Lok Sabha member A Bimol Akoijam expressed his anguish over the absence of any reference to ethnic violence-hit Manipur in President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.
In a fiery speech late Monday night, the first-time Congress member from Inner Manipur drew attention to the 60,000 people living in deplorable conditions in relief camps in the northeastern state for the past year.
Akoijam, a professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, was the last speaker in the Lok Sabha on Monday and spoke close to midnight.
"The hurt, the anger has thrown a nobody like me to be part of this temple of democracy, beating the BJP cabinet minister. Think about the pain. I will keep quiet the moment the Prime Minister opens his mouth and the nationalist party says that Manipur is a part of India and we care for the people of that state," said Akoijam, who defeated Union minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh in the recent elections.
He said every inch of Manipur was covered by central armed forces, yet 60,000 people were rendered homeless, and thousands of villages were destroyed.
"Our prime minister remains silent, not even uttering a word, and the President's address failed to mention this. This silence is not normal," Akoijam said in his speech.
He said over 200 people have died, and a civil war-like situation has ensued, with armed individuals roaming around, fighting each other, and defending their villages, while the Indian state has remained a mute spectator to this tragedy for one year.
"Is this silence communicating to the people of the Northeast and particularly Manipur that you do not matter in the Indian State's scheme of things," Akoijam wondered.
He said the absence of the Manipur crisis in the President's address to Parliament on Friday was a reminder of the 'rashtra chetana' (national consciousness) which excludes people.
"Today, we are observing a day where we implement new criminal laws, seemingly to discard colonial heritage... This continuity (of colonialism) is shown by neglecting the tragedy of a state which is the 19th state of the Union," the Congress MP said referring to the three criminal justice laws that came into force on July 1.
Akoijam said it was "sad to see a nationalist party like the BJP being comfortable with the silence on Manipur's tragedy".
"Keep your hands on your heart and think about the homeless, the mothers and the widows. Think of them and then talk about nationalism," he said.
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Kejriwal resorting to 'vendetta politics', says BJP after MP Sandeep Pathak booked
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of vendetta politics after Punjab Police booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP.
In an X post, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Kejriwal is misusing the Punjab Police to settle political scores, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has become a party to it.
"Two FIRs have been filed against Sandeep Pathak, who until recently was in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary (organisation). What is baffling is the shameless, brazen vendetta politics being pursued by Arvind Kejriwal, with Bhagwant Mann complicit in it," Poonawalla said.
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"It is clear this has been done out of vendetta politics by Kejriwal, who is extremely vengeful and vindictive, and misuses the Punjab Police to pursue such political vendetta," he alleged.
Questioning the timing of the FIRs, Poonawalla said, "If these cases existed from the beginning, why were FIRs not filed earlier? If he was corrupt, why was he kept in the party for so long, especially when he was the general secretary (organisation)? Has any new material surfaced in the last few days, or has the alleged corruption occurred only now?"
He alleged that Kejriwal has an "old habit" of targeting political opponents and dissenters.
"We have seen how he has used the police against rivals, including Congress leaders. This is his old habit," Poonawalla said, referring to the withdrawal of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh's security.
Poonawalla claimed that several leaders who had left AAP over the years, including Yogendra Yadav, Mayank Gandhi, Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh and Alka Lamba, were "hounded".
He accused the party of failing to introspect.
"Instead of introspecting on how they have changed -- from Anna to Lalu, from Lokpal to corruption -- they are indulging in vendetta politics, trying to victimise people using the strong arm of the law. This reflects an Emergency-like mindset and a dictatorial, Hitlerian mindset," he said.
According to sources, two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections.
No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet.
On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party has strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Of the seven MPs -- who were Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- six were from Punjab.
Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three.
