Appeal to opposition to join debate in Parliament on Manipur: Anurag Thakur

As Parliament's Monsoon session remained deadlocked over ethnic violence in Manipur, Union minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday appealed to the opposition parties "with folded hands" to join the debate on the issue.

Thakur also urged the opposition not to politicise the issue of atrocities against women in the northeastern state.

The opposition parties have planned joint protests in Parliament on Monday on the situation in Manipur. They have been demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament before starting a discussion on the issue.

The government has been insisting that Home Minister Amit Shah will speak on the issue and not the prime minister.

"Atrocities against women are painful, no matter which state the victims belong to. It is the responsibility of the state to curb such incidents," the minister said.

He said the government is keen on a discussion on the issue of atrocities on women, which are prevalent in states such as Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal and Manipur.

"We wish that there should be a good discussion on this in the House, where all political parties will participate. Nobody should run away from the debate. It is my request to the opposition with folded hands, do not run away from the discussion," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.

He said the opposition should not politicise such issues and should join the discussion in Parliament.

"The opposition does all this to remain in discussion, but it does nothing to join the discussion," Thakur said when asked about the protests on the Manipur issue.

The Monsoon session of Parliament began on July 20 and has witnessed disruptions over the ethnic violence in Manipur, particularly over a video purportedly shot on May 4 and depicting atrocities against women in the state. The video surfaced last week.