Police in Manipur halted Rahul Gandhi’s motorcade
On Thursday, local police halted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s caravan at a check point close to Bishnupur, which is around 20 kilometres from the state capital Imphal. The convoy was its route to Churachandpur in Manipur.
Gandhi, who arrived in Imphal this morning for a two-day tour, was his route to Churachandpur, where he intended to meet individuals who had been displaced by the recent skirmishes at the relief camps. K C Venugopal, the general secretary of the Congress, said to ANI that the police have stated that they are not in a “position” to let the leaders to go.
“Police have halted Rahul Gandhi’s convoy close to Bishnupur. Police claim that they are unable to permit us. Rahul Gandhi is being waved to by people who are gathered on both sides of the street. Venugopal told ANI, “We are unable to comprehend why they stopped us.
In a previous statement, Venugopal had indicated that during his tour, Rahul Gandhi will meet with leaders of the civil society and visit relief facilities in Churachandpur and Imphal, two of the State’s most violently hit cities.
The All Manipur Students Union, in the meanwhile, released a statement today denouncing the state’s consecutive administrations and asserting that the Congress Party has a significant role to play in the matter.
According to the union, “Congress has a big role to play. We believe that the current communal crisis in Manipur is a result of the political blunders that have been committed by the successive governments that have ruled Manipur over time.”
In 2012, the Congress party removed four Gramme Panchayats and one Zila Parishad constituency that were a part of the Imphal West district from the Manipur Panchayati Raj system and assigned them to come under the autonomous district council of Kangopi district, according to the secretary-general of the All Manipur Students Union, speaking at a press conference here. It had improved the Kuki nation state’s utopia even further.
On May 3, over two months earlier, ethnic tensions erupted in the State after a protest march called by the All Tribal Students Union (ATSU) opposing the demand that Meiteis be included to the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs).
