Centre insincere, State behaving like puppet : Ibobi

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Oct 10: CLP leader and former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi has categorically stated that the Central Government is insincere in its efforts to resolve the Manipur crisis and the State Government has been acting like a puppet.
O Ibobi was speaking at a reception function held at Congress Bhavan here today in honour of nine individuals including former Minister and NPP State unit’s former working president L Jayantakumar and Oinam Romen who contested the last Assembly election in Singjamei AC on NPP ticket.
The nine individuals formally joined the Congress party today.
For the Government of India whose military is the fourth largest in the world, it is no difficult task to control the Manipur violence if it is sincere, Ibobi said.
It is another matter if the Government of India has any hidden agenda to let the violence continue for some more time but the people have started questioning the insincerity of the Central Government, he said.
On the other hand, the State Government has been  dancing to the tune of New Delhi like a puppet, the CLP leader asserted.
The BJP-led Government  will be completing eight years in March next year while there is Modi 3.0 Government at the Centre.
It is a matter of grave concern that the double-engine Government has failed to bring an end to the Manipuri crisis even after 17 months, he said.
He asserted that if there is a problem, there certainly should be a means to resolve it.
Public support is important but it is the responsibility of the Central Government to restore peace and normalcy in the State. At the same, the Central Government must allow the State Government to function properly, he said.
He then asked if there is any precedent in any part of the country where violence was allowed to continue for 17 months.
“Union Home Minister Amit Shah convened a meeting of political parties on the Manipur crisis at New Delhi last year. AICC deputed me as the party’s representative to the meeting where BJP president JP Nadda was also present”, Ibobi said.
“As a Manipuri, I suggested to the Union Home Minister to first stop the killings and recover all illegal arms from both the sides before talking with both the communities”, he said.
Ibobi said that he was intervened by Amit Shah but representatives of other political parties argued that he must be allowed to speak being a native of Manipur.
The former Chief Minister then asked whether Manipur will exist if all communities start demanding separate administrations.
When Manipur was merged with the Indian Union in 1949, its integrity and territorial boundary were also parts of the agreement. As such, disintegration of Manipur is not acceptable under any circumstances, the former Chief Minister asserted.  
At the time of signing the Mizo Accord, a proposal was raised to form a greater Mizoram by amalgamating Churachandpur district to Mizoram but former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi rejected the proposal, he said.
On the summons issued to MPCC president K Meghachandra by ED, Ibobi asserted that they have nothing to fear about.
“After the State Vigilance registered a case against me in 2017, CBI and ED carried out investigations. Even today, they are saying that the investigation is under process. I don’t know how long their investigations will take”, he said.
Recalling that even Rahul Gandhi was detained by the ED for several hours, Ibobi said that the MPCC president needs to cooperate with the ED. The summon is a manifestation of BJP’s attempt to tarnish democracy and misinterpret the Constitution, he said.
He then called upon all Congressmen to shoulder the responsibility of protecting both democracy and the Constitution.
The function presided by MPCC president K Megha-chandra was also attended by CWC member Gaikha-ngam, deputy CLP leader K Ranjit, MLA Th Lokeshwar and many other party leaders as presidium members.