‘What did Congress say in public…’: Manipur BJP MP slams NRC, illegal immigrants

Manipur BJP MP Rajkumar Imo Singh addresses party supporters at his home in Imphal

Imphal/New Delhi:

Manipur BJP MP Rajkumar Imo Singh has launched a fresh attack on the state’s opposition Congress, alleging its deceptive stance on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the influx of illegal immigrants .

Addressing party supporters at his Imphal home on Thursday, Mr. Suspension of Operations (SoO) protocol. Kuki-Zo rebel group.

“We have been working hard for peace. But the opposition Congress has never taken the initiative to say let us work together, lift SoO, take action against illegal immigrants, call NRC, disarm all groups. The Center is also working hard and listen to us, “Mr. Singh said.

“The home minister understands the actual situation. He said in Parliament that the crisis in Manipur is the result of influx of illegal immigrants, drug angle and arms smuggling. He has been working with the government on biometric identification of illegal immigrants and eventually a nationwide inquiry The Register of Citizens (NRC) has 1961 as the base year,” said BJP MP N Biren Singh, son-in-law of Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

“But the Congress party has never raised this issue anywhere, including in Parliament. They don’t seem to want to accept these realities. Rahul Gandhi or Gaurav Gogoi, no one in the Congress party has spoken about this problem,” he said.

“Just before the resolution on NRC was about to be passed, Congress walked out. We passed two important resolutions – One, SoO cannot be extended; it should be repealed and action should be taken against groups violating basic rules.” The Center is yet to extend SoO, which It shows that they are also scrutinizing our plea and what we have been saying,” Mr Singh said, adding that the MPs who quit claimed they did not have time to speak in Parliament.

“How? I saw them speaking at length and asking a lot of questions. While they said something in public, they did other things in rallies. Who would back out when passing such an important resolution as the NRC?” he explain.

Most of the ruling legislators are united in working for the cause of our country and we are trying to accommodate the opposition legislators as well, one should not politicize an issue related to such an important issue. The central government may not be doing everything we want, but they are getting started… pic.twitter.com/B6v8ZAzZAO

— Rajkumar Imo Singh (Modi Ka Parivaar) (@imosingh) March 29, 2024

The NRC and SoO agreements are sensitive issues in Manipur, where the Kuki-Zo tribe in the southern hills and some other areas and the Meiteis, the majority of the valley, have been criticized for sharing land, resources and Conflict arises over disagreements over political representation and affirmative action policies.

The Maetas want the NRC to deport illegal immigrants, whom they believe are responsible for the crisis in Manipur. They also want the Center and the state to terminate the SoO agreement with the Kuki-Zo insurgent group as there are allegations that the groups have been using the SoO agreement to enhance their strength and integrate into state politics.

The Kukizo tribe has refuted the allegations and accused the BJP government led by Manipur leader and chief minister N Biren Singh of exploiting Meitei public sentiment against the Kukizo tribe, all for electoral gain.

Ten Kukizo MLAs, seven of them from the BJP, have demanded a separate government for the Kukizo-dominated region of Manipur. After violence broke out between the two communities on May 3, 2023, 10 provincial councilors said in a statement that living in the Meitei community was “like death for our people.”

However, the Kukizo rebel group, which signed the SoO agreement, had been demanding a separate piece of land in Manipur in the years before the conflict broke out on May 3, 2023.

Ethnic violence in Manipur has killed more than 200 people and displaced more than 50,000 people internally.

Manipur has two Lok Sabha seats – Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur. The entire inner Manipur constituency and parts of outer Manipur will go to polls on April 19. The remaining districts of Outer Manipur will go to polls on April 26. Counting of votes will take place on June 4.

The Congress candidate in Manipur is Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, a professor at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), while the BJP candidate is state education minister Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh.