NEW DELHI, 30 May: Top Congress leaders on Tuesday met President Droupadi Murmu and sought her intervention in helping bring normalcy in violence-hit Manipur, and called for the constitution of a high-level inquiry commission headed by a serving or retired Supreme Court judge to probe the incident.
A delegation of Congress leaders, led by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, met the president and handed over a memorandum to her, seeking her urgent intervention, and handed over a 12-point charter of demands to be taken immediately to help bring peace and normlacy in the northeastern state.
“Though there were several lapses in the management of the situation at the early stages of violence, leading to the present imbroglio. Now it is not the time to point fingers, but to act. If the suggestions above are implemented in earnest, peace can perhaps be restored once again. The Congress party is a responsible political party and is ever ready to lend support to any initiative to restore peace, normalcy and harmony in the state of Manipur,” the Congress memorandum to the president said.
“A high-level inquiry commission should be constituted, headed by a serving or retired Supreme Court judge,” it added.
They said also that firm and sustained efforts must be made to control violence in every part of the state for immediate restoration of peace, harmony, and normalcy, and urged the president to ask the central government to immediately take all possible measures to control and confine all militant groups (including those under SoO) and ensure that all armed civilian groups be stopped forthwith by taking appropriate action.
The state government must immediately take over the management and maintenance of all relief camps and provide proper health and sanitation facilities for all, the party suggested in its memorandum.
The letter and spirit of the existing constitutional provisions related to the state of Manipur must be protected, and the trust between communities should be restored through reconciliation and dialogue, it added.
“It is with a deep sense of loss and hurt that we humbly submitted a memorandum to the president of India for her kind intervention, so that the extraordinary situation confronting Manipur can be redressed and normalcy can be brought in urgently,” Kharge said on Twitter after the meeting.
“As a responsible political party, the Indian National Congress is ever ready to lend support to any initiative to restore peace, normalcy and harmony in Manipur. We humbly submit the following 12 demands for immediate action. Only then there will be peace in the state,” the Congress president said.
Among those who were part of the Congress delegation that met the president, besides Kharge, were former chief minister Ibobi Singh, Congress leader Mukul Wasnik, former deputy chief minister Gaikhangam and PCC president Keisham Meghachandra Singh, and AICC in-charge for Manipur Bhakt Charan Das.
“The letter and spirit of the existing constitutional provisions related to the state of Manipur must be protected, and the trust between communities should be restored through reconciliation and dialogue,” the memorandum said. (PTI)
