Manipur is sensitive matter, politics on it is shameful, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at the Opposition in his speech on Day 2 of the no-confidence debate in Lok Sabha.

Addressing the Manipur issue in Lok Sabha, Amit Shah said that Manipur violence is shameful, but politicising it even more shameful.

“I agree with the Opposition that violence has occurred there, and no one can condone that. However, engaging in politics over this issue is equally shameful. You are indulging in political maneuvers,” he said.

#WATCH | I agree that there have been incidents of violence in Manipur. No one can support such incidents. Doing politics on these incidents is shameful: Home Minister Amit Shah on violence in Manipur pic.twitter.com/9qaP8s59PV

— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2023

In response to Rahul Gandhi's accusation that PM Modi does not consider Manipur to be a part of India, Amit Shah stated, “PM Modi has worked to bring the Northeast into the mainstream. There are individuals who have been Prime Minister for 15 years and I am embarrassed for them. However, in the last nine years, PM Modi has visited the Northeast over 50 times. This demonstrates that the Northeast is an integral part of India.” 

“It has been stated that this government was not prepared for a discussion on Manipur… Through you, I wish to inform the House that I had sent an email to the Chair indicating our readiness for the discussion. We were ready for the discussion from day one. You did not allow the Home Minister to present his perspective on a significant matter like Manipur,” Shah said in his response to the Opposition requests to address Manipur issue.

Speaking on the Manipur conflict, Shah stated that the Kuki Democratic Front began an agitation for democracy in Myanmar, and when the Myanmar government took action, they began moving in. 

 

Around 10,000 Kukis started coming in, leading to security concerns in Manipur. We took note of this and initiated fencing, said Shah.

“The rapid increase in population created insecurity within the Meitei community. Rumors began circulating on April 29, resulting in unrest. The Manipur High Court’s April judgment further escalated the situation. Subsequently, clashes erupted, leading to the current state of affairs," he added.

#WATCH | Union Home Minister Amit Shah gives a detailed response on what led to violence in Manipur and the measures taken by the government to control the situation in the state pic.twitter.com/PKscrHIyGn

— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2023

Speaking on the viral video of women paraded naked and raped in Manipur, Shah said, “Such actions cannot be supported anywhere in the world. Media friends pointed at me and asked if the video should be handed over to the police. Why did it emerge a day before the parliamentary session? Nine people were identified, arrested, and are facing trial since the video came to light."

"I was there for three days and nights, while Nityanand ji was present for 23 days. A commission has been appointed to investigate this. A buffer zone has been established and a unified command has been instituted as well. Six cases were with the CBI, and 11 more cases have been handed over to the CBI. Rice and medical teams were provided. Online education has commenced. 98 per cent of schools are open, with 80 per cent attendance,” said Amit Shah.

On Opposition's demand of Manipur CM N Biren Singh's removal, Amit Shah said there is no need to change the chief minister. 

“The CM is cooperating, and there is no need to replace him. We held 16 video conferences and sent 36,000 security forces there. The chief secretary, DGP, and advisor were changed. A security advisor was also sent. In 28 days, we established the railway connection and restored supplies," he said.

'People have confidence in PM Modi'
 

Earlier, during his address in Lok Sabha, Shah said that the only reason to bring the no confidence motion was to mislead the people. 

"Sometimes in order to check the government's majority, the Opposition brings the no-confidence motion. The government and the house have full confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Whenever you bring a no-confidence motion, you bring arguments over the policies and decisions. It was brought only for kranti [revolution]," Amit Shah said.

"The no-trust motion was brought to mislead people. The house and the people have full confidence in the government," he said, adding, "The no-confidence motion is a constitutional process, and we have no objection. I believe it brings out the real face of alliances. When Narasimha Rao was in power, a no-confidence motion was brought and the Congress wanted to save the government. They won the motion and sent many political leaders to jail."

No-confidence motion LIVE updates

The Home Minister further stated that the grand old party had been in power for 35 years and took many decisions that will be remembered. But in nine years of the NDA, over 50 decisions had been taken, which will also be remembered.

"For 30 years, the country had been suffering from dynastic politics, corruption, and casteism and PM Modi finished all these and gave politics of performance to the country," he said.

Amit Shah further stated that in 1999, during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government, the saffron party could have also done that [bribing leaders]. But we [the BJP] put forward our points and lost the motion by one vote; we could have saved the motion. Sometimes, a no-confidence motion brings out the real pic of alliances. We lost by one vote but came back with a majority, he said.

"People are watching, and they know everything. We are in politics of development, but they bribe leaders to save their government and principles," Shah added.

Amit Shah's veiled jibe at Rahul Gandhi

Taking a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi without mentioning his name, Amit Shah stated that there is such a leader in this House who has been launched 13 times.

"There is one member in this House who has been launched 13 times in politics. This member failed all 13 times. I have seen one launching when he went to meet a poor lady from Bundelkhand named Kalavati. But what did you do for her? House, ration, electricity were provided to her by the Modi government," Amit Shah said.  

#WATCH | There is one member in this House who has been launched 13 times in politics. This member failed all 13 times. I have seen one launching when he went to meet a poor lady from Bundelkhand named Kalavati. But what did you do for her? House, ration, electricity were… pic.twitter.com/bvUpOA9CsS

— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2023

Speaking on farm loans, Shah said that Congress only offered lollipop. "It for the farmers of our country to decide - on one side there was UPA government which offered 'lollipop' of Rs 70,000 crore debt and on the other side there is a government that has transferred Rs 2.4 trillion directly to their accounts with dignity.

He added, "I want to tell everyone that the National Democratic Alliance [NDA] is the first government since independence with two-third majority, and the confidence of people did that, twice."

'Narendra Modi most trusted PM since independence'

Shah also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “dedicating 17 hours of work” towards the progress of the country.

"If there is the most popular Prime Minister after independence, it's Narendra Modi. I'm not saying this, numerous surveys from around the world say so. If there is a Prime Minister who works 17 hours out of 24 without taking a single day off after independence, it's Narendra Modi," Shah highlighted.

"Our government has worked to elevate the country's economy from the 11th rank to the 5th rank in the past nine years. I have full confidence that Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister of the country again, and by 2027, we will witness India becoming the world's third-largest economy," he added.

Shah also highlighted the success of the Modi government’s strategy against the Covid-19 pandemic. “The only reason that India has effectively fought against Covid-19 is that both the central and state governments in India, with the support of 1.3 billion people, have unitedly battled against the virus.”

Amit Shah on Kashmir

On Kashmir, Shah said that the situation in the valley has changed since 2014 because of BJP's policies. "We have worked towards making Kashmir terrorism-free," said Shah.

“We won’t engage in discussions with Hurriyat, Jamiat, or Pakistan. If there are discussions, they will be held with the youth of the valley,” he said, "Processions of terrorists are no more carried out in Kashmir, because they are buried at the same place where they are neutralised. The trend of stone pelting in Jammu and Kashmir has now completely ended."

"Article 370 was result of wrong policy of former Prime Minister Jawahar Nehru. PM Modi took historic decision to completely merge J&K with India,” the Union Home Minister said.