“Lanka was not set on fire by Lord Hanuman but by Raavan’s arrogance. Ravan was not killed by Ram but by his arrogance,” said Rahul while participating in debate
Nirendra Dev / New Delhi
Speaking on the Motion Rahul Gandhi said: “They killed India in Manipur. Not just Manipur but they killed India. Their politics has not killed Manipur, but it has killed India in Manipur. They have murdered India in Manipur.”
“A few days back, I went to Manipur. Our Prime Minister didn’t go, not even to this day, because for him Manipur is not India,” he said.
“Bharat ek awaaz hai, Bharat hamari janta ki awaaz hai, dil ki awaaz hai. Uss awaaz ki hatya aapne Manipur mein ki. Iska matlab Bharat Mata ki hatya aapne Manipur mein ki…You killed India by killing the people of Manipur. You are a traitor, you are not a patriot,” said Rahul.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the government of dividing Manipur. He questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not visited Manipur so far. He also accused BJP of acting against the interest of the country. Mr. Rahul talked about his visit to a relief camp in Manipur saying women had to face atrocities during the violence in the State. He questioned why the government is not deploying the Army in Manipur to restore normalcy. When Mr. Gandhi was speaking the House witnessed heated arguments between opposition and treasury bench members and also slogans and counter slogans.
Intervening in the debate, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani stressed that Manipur is an integral part of India and it was not divided and will never be divided. She alleged that Congress ran away from the discussion on Manipur in the house despite the government’s readiness to have a discussion on this issue. She accused Congress of being a mute spectator when women had to face atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir in the past. She also talked about the abrogation of article 370 saying it has ensured justice to women in the UT. She also attacked Congress for corruption in the UPA regime. The Minister targeted Mr. Gandhi saying that India believes in merit, not in dynasty. The Minister listed out several initiatives of the government including Swachh Bharat Mission, Mudra loan scheme, Stand-up India, and construction of toilets and tap water connections to ease the lives of common people. Ram Kripal Yadav of BJP questioned the recently formed opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A alleging that this is a group of people who are involved in corrupt practices, promoting nepotism and appeasement. He also criticized the Bihar government saying that the opposition is being targeted for raising the issue of public interest and there is an atmosphere of fear in Bihar. He said, incidents of crime have increased under the Nitish Kumar government.
PV Midhun Reddy of YSR Congress said, the heinous crime committed against women in Manipur is painful. He said, stringent action must be taken by the government. Rajiv Ranjan Singh of JD(U) alleged that the government is not bothered about the seriousness of the situation in Manipur. He said, a wide division has been created between the two communities in Manipur and there is a trust deficit among people. Raising the unemployment issue in the country, he said, the BJP government has failed to give employment to the youths which was promised them. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi of DMK said, there are hundreds of relief camps in Manipur wherein people are not getting food and other facilities. She said, the people are living in fear in the relief camps. The MP criticized the government over the unemployment issue. Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar of Trinamool Congress said, the double-engine government in Manipur has failed to save the people. She said, nearly 60 thousand people are living in relief camps wherein basic facilities are not sufficient.
Nama Nageswar Rao of BRS, K Subbarayan of CPI, Harsimrat kaur Badal of SAD, Heena Gavit of BJP, Farooq Abdullah of National Conference, Union Minister and Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel, E T Mohammed Basheer of IUML and Revanth Reddy of Congress also participated in the discussion on No Confidence Motion.
Participating in the debate, Home Minister Amit Shah said Narendra Modi government has taken some historic decisions and ended dynasties and graft. He alleged that UPA’s character is to protect power and added that NDA fights to protect principle. He said NDA government does not believe in just waiving off loans but in making a system where one does not have to take a loan. He pointed out that Centre has not given freebies to farmers but instead have made farmers self-sufficient. He said, no-confidence motion against Narendra Modi Government is a politically motivated move. He said people and Parliament have full confidence in the Modi government.
Mr Shah said, there has been reduction of 68 per cent in terror incidents in the last nine years of Government.
Speaking on Jammu and Kashmir, the Home Minister said, Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Government has continuously worked to keep Kashmir terrorism-free. He said, Government will not hold talks with Pakistan, Hurriyat or Jamiat but only with the youth there.
Speaking on Left Wing Extremism, The Home Minister said, naxals are now limited to only three districts in Chhattisgarh now.
Talking about North-East, Mr Shah alleged that previous governments have not done anything for the region and Mr Modi brought all-round development there and brought it to the mainstream. He said, Mr Modi visited Northeast more than 50 times in the last nine years.
Speaking on Manipur, Mr Shah said, everyone is pained at incidents of violence in Manipur. He said, while the incidents are shameful, doing politics on it is even more shameful. Mr Shah said, whatever happening in Manipur is ethnic violence triggered by circumstances and it should not be turned into a political issue. He said, 152 people lost their lives in Manipur violence since 3rd May.
The Home Minister appealed to both Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur to shun violence and hold talks with the Government. Mr Shah said, he is holding separate talks with members of both communities.
Taking on the opposition, The Home Minister said, from day one, he was ready for discussion on Manipur but the opposition didn’t want a discussion, they only wanted to protest.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on behalf of whole House, appealed for peace in Manipur.
The House was adjourned after the address of Home Minister. Tomorrow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the No Confidence Motion in Lok Sabha.