PM Modi's Manipur visit marks start of long peace process: Gaurav Gogoi

Senior Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely visit to Manipur should not be seen as the end of a goal, but rather as the start on a long journey to bring peace back to the state.

Gogoi, the deputy leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, on the sidelines of a programme here on Friday, said, "We cannot say that normalcy has returned to Manipur... there is no elected government, so Modi's visit should not be seen as the end goal."  It is only a start on a "long journey to bring peace, justice, reconciliation and democracy back to Manipur", the Congress MP said.

Emphasising that the relationship among the people of Manipur must heal, their aspirations must be met, he said, "I hope that the BJP understands that the PM's visit is not the end but only a beginning which has come very much delayed".

The likely visit of the PM should have been planned two years ago, and there are still many more milestones to overcome, the Assam Congress president claimed.

"As they say that justice delayed is justice denied, people of Manipur have been denied of the PM's visit for far too long," he said.

He hoped that when the PM arrives, the first thing he should do is to "apologise to the people of Manipur for not showing up for the last two years".

Regarding Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's claim that the SIT will submit its report on the investigations into alleged links between Pakistan national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and his partners in India on September 10, Gogoi said the Congress will continue to highlight the various "scams" under the BJP government in the state.

The chief minister has been attacking Gogoi over his wife Elizabeth Colburn's alleged connection with Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

Sarma had alleged that Gogoi's wife had "good relations" with the Pakistan Army and even the MP had visited the neighbouring country "in a personal and not official capacity" and stayed there for 15 days.

On the new Immigration and Foreigners' (Exemption) Order, 2025, Gogoi said that it has negated the Assam Accord, and such an important matter should have been first discussed in Parliament.

The order of the Ministry of Home Affairs allows minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians, who entered India till December 31, 2024, to escape religious persecution, to stay in the country.

Gogoi was attending the media interaction of the INDIA bloc vice presidential candidate B Sudershan Reddy here.

"As a former Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court, he is familiar with the situation in Assam and the other northeastern states," Gogoi said.

He is familiar with the political complexities of a state like Manipur and has the knowledge, wisdom and experience about the concerns and aspirations of the Northeast, which he can highlight at the highest forum, the opposition leader said.

"I hope my colleagues from across the political aisle realise how, at this point, we need someone who understands Manipur, the Assam Accord and other issues of the Northeast," he said.

Gogoi asserted that he was confident that Reddy would do much better than what the people's expectations are.