Northeast Desk, 11th June: The Congress took a sharp jab at Prime Minister Narendra Modi in response to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent comments about the ongoing unrest in Manipur. Bhagwat expressed concerns over the lack of peace in the state, noting that even after a year, the situation remains dire.
Manipur has been engulfed in violence since May of the previous year, with clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities resulting in around 200 deaths and the displacement of thousands. Homes and government buildings have been destroyed in widespread arson, and fresh violence has erupted in Jiribam over the past few days.
Bhagwat’s remarks, made during a gathering of RSS trainees at the ‘Karyakarta Vikas Varg- Dwitiya’ event at Dr. Hedgewar Smriti Bhavan in Nagpur, highlighted the urgency of addressing the conflict. He called for prioritizing the situation in Manipur and moving beyond electoral rhetoric to focus on national issues.
In response, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh took to social media to critique the Prime Minister. In a post on X, Ramesh suggested that if the demands of Manipur’s people and the PM’s conscience were insufficient, perhaps Bhagwat could persuade the “former RSS office-bearer” – referring to Modi – to visit the troubled state.
Bhagwat stressed the importance of overcoming conflict and focusing on the country’s pressing problems, emphasizing that peace must be restored in Manipur. He reminisced about the state’s peaceful past, asserting that it had felt like the gun culture had ended a decade ago, but has now unexpectedly returned to violence.
“The situation in Manipur will have to be considered with priority. There is a need to get over election rhetoric and focus on problems facing the nation,” Bhagwat urged, underlining the necessity for immediate and decisive action to restore stability in the region.