21 members Opposition delegation on two-day visit to Manipur from today

NEW DELHI: A multi-party delegation of the opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) is on a two-day "on-the-spot assessment" of the ground situation in Manipur from Saturday. The opposition has decided to send a delegation of 21 Members of Parliament from 16 parties to the state.

Ahead of the visit, Congress MP Dr Naseer Hussain told media persons here on Friday that opposition’s decision to send MPs' delegation to Manipur is aimed at sending a message to the affected people of the state "that there is concern about their plight" and the opposition MPs have come to meet them. The twenty member MPs delegation having MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha includes K Suresh, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, Rajiv Ranjan Lalan Singh, Sushmita Dev, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Sandosh Kumar, AA Rahim, Prof Manoj Kumar Jha, Javed Ali Khan, Mahua Maji, PP Mohammed Faizal, Aneel Prasad Hegde, ET Mohammed Basheer, NK Premachandran, Sushil Gupta, Arvind Sawant, D Ravikumar, Thiru Thol Thirumavalavan, Jayant Singh and Phulo Devi Netam.

NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MP PP Mohammed Faizal said, "We have been asking that the Manipur issue be discussed in the House. The ruling side is not agreeing to that. Opposition sat together and decided to have a field visit - exactly what is happening there, what they want to talk to us about. We will go to the camps and interact with the people there. We will lend our ears to them and hear from them - what are the hardships they faced, what do they expect from the side. Their voice would be brought here before the government." "Our main intention is fact-finding" , IUML MP ET Muhammed Basheer said. "We are getting terrible news such as harassment, naked-parading. So we will have a discussion with concerned officials also, we will visit affected areas and meet the victims. We want to console them and spread a message of harmony. We will have further discussions with the concerned stakeholders. We will come back and raise the issue with all the experience we gather from there," he said.

While Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said, "Plan is to bring peace and harmony between the communities." CPI MP P Santhosh Kumar said, "Tomorrow, a group of MPs belonging to different political parties who are part of I.N.D.I.A will be going to Manipur. It will be a 2-day visit and we will try to cover as many camps and affected areas as possible. This visit is to give a message that team I.N.D.I.A is not just an alliance for election but it is an alliance to raise people's voice." RJD MP Manoj Jha said, they wanted to tell the PM that "We are making an effort to do what he and his team should have done. We are going there with a small motive - to understand the collective pain of the people of Manipur and perhaps present that pain sensitively when the PM comes to the Parliament. That is our aim."

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, "No Confidence Motion moved by INDIA alliance parties has been accepted by the Speaker. I hope we will have a discussion soon. It is important that we speak of Manipur in this discussion. We want to speak about the people of Manipur who have been forgotten by the PM. That is why our two-day visit is essential. We want to know of their pain so that we can present their case boldly. It will be difficult to visit the violence-affected areas but the areas where people are staying at relief camps can be visited so that we can see how the Administration is taking care of them and what they had to go through. We would want to know what are the expectations of the people of Manipur with INDIA alliance. We are going with open minds and we will try to work as per the suggestions that will be given to us."

SP leader Javed Ali Khan and one of the members of the delegation said, "We will go to the camps and interact with the people there. We will hear from them -what do they expect from the side. Their voice would be brought here." Opposition members have protested in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session of Parliament over their demand for a detailed discussion on the situation in Manipur and a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They have been pressing for discussion on Manipur under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha. Speaker Om Birla has admitted the no-confidence motion against the government moved by opposition members in Lok Sabha.