Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who concluded his two-day visit to strife-torn Manipur on June 30, said that the crisis unfolding in the state is a “horrible tragedy”, while stressing the need for restoration of peace at the earliest.
Gandhi arrived in Imphal on June 29 on a two-day visit to the violence-hit state that lost lives of more than 130 people and over 300 injured besides rendering thousands of people homeless after their houses were torched.
After visiting inmates at relief camps in Churachandpur, one of the districts severely hit by the wave of violence on the first day of his visit, the former AICC president paid a visit to relief camps in Bishnupur district on June 30.
Before concluding his visit, Gandhi met with Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey at Raj Bhavan in Imphal.
After the meeting with the governor, Gandhi told reporters that he came to the state not to politicize the issue but to spread the message of peace. He also called for a concerted effort of all to end the violence.
“I am not coming here to politicize the issue. I just want to restore normalcy in the state at the earliest,” he told reporters in front of the Raj Bhavan.
He said that during the meeting with the governor, he discussed the situation after the violence unfolded in the state.
The Congress leader said: “I came here because I want to share the pain of the people of Manipur. It is a horrible tragedy that has taken place and it is very extremely sad and painful for all the people of Manipur and all the people of India as well”.
Gandhi went to relief camps in Churachandpur, Bishnupur and Imphal and met with displaced people from all communities.
“One of the things I would say to the government is that the basic amenities in the camps need to be improved, food needs to be improved, and medicines need to be supplied. Complaints come from the camps,” he said.
He then appealed to everybody in Manipur that “we need peace”. He added: “Peace is the most important thing and my strong appeal to everybody that violence will not get anything. For everybody, peace is the way forward. So everybody should talk about peace and start moving towards peace”.
In his reply to a query from reporters on prime minister Narendra Modi’s alleged silence on the Manipur’s situation, Gandhi said: “I am not coming here to politicize the issue, I just want to restore normalcy in the state at the earliest”.
Earlier in the morning, the Congress leader visited some relief camps at Moirang in Bishnupur district. He went there by a chopper from Imphal airport.
On his way to relief camps, people of the district including displaced people taking shelter at the relief camps welcomed him by standing on the roadside and hoisting Indian national flags.
Senior Congress leaders including MPCC president K Meghachandra and former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh accompanied Gandhi in visiting the camps.
There, he met and interacted with the inmates of the relief camps. He also interacted with the children, differently abled persons and aged old people taking shelter in the relief camps.
He consoled the inmates.
The inmates also submitted a memorandum to the visiting Congress leader seeking his cooperation in ending the violence and restoring peace in the state.
Before concluding his two-day visit, Rahul Gandhi also met with leaders of various civil society organisations in Imphal and discussed ways to end the violence in the state.
