Over 550 civil society groups, retired bureaucrats and police officers, activists, lawyers, filmmakers, journalists, academics and writers have now come together to issue a public statement, calling for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence over the unabated ethnic violence in Manipur, which has been under way for over a month now — killing at least 100 people, injuring hundreds more and internally displacing tens of thousands of people.
The signatories to the statement include Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha, two former IPS officers, a retired civil servant, and a plethora of civil society and human rights groups such as the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Human Rights Forum, People’s Union for Democratic Rights, and several other farmers’, labourers’, workers’ and women’s rights groups.
The statement, issued on Friday, called for the PM to break his silence over the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, and “take accountability” for the situation in the State currently. “Manipur is burning today in very large part due to the divisive politics played by the BJP and its Governments at the Centre and State. And on them lies the onus to stop this ongoing civil war before more lives are lost,” the statement said.
