While the ongoing no-confidence motion may have served as an occasion for MPs to score political points and brush off their oratorical skills, for Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Gosh Dastidar, it was a chance to recount some of the horrors that she witnessed
Dastidar, who was part of last month’s opposition delegation to the violence-hit hill state of Manipur, said the recent video of two girls being stripped and paraded was only the tip of an iceberg.
“There are many more incidents of beheading,” she said. “We have seen videos in which girls are being caught by their hair and their throats slit.
“Two girls were hiding in a car wash without food and water for 2-3 days. They were hiding from the terrorists but unfortunately, they were dragged out and gang-raped.”
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Participating in the discussions on the opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government, Dastidar said the vast majority of such incidents that have taken place in the state over the last three months have been systematically covered up.
“The internet is blocked, and the media was so manipulated that the nation hardly got any information till our delegation visited,” she said, referring to the continuing violence between the largely city-focused Meitei and tribes such as Kukis who dwell in the hillier districts of the state.
A total of 179 people are estimated to have so far died in the violence, according to members of the delegation, while the number of the displaced has been pegged at 60,000 and those in relief camps estimated at 40,000. Several thousand houses are reported to have been put on fire.
“Babies are being born in relief camps, mothers are undergoing labour pain there,” Dastidar went on, “There are no doctors, medications, sanitary napkins, food, or even safe drinking water…Bharat and Manipur are not doing well and there is darkness everywhere.”
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She pointed out that the 70,000-80,00 central armed forces deployed have not been able to completely control the situation. “Every second day, there is mob killing, more rapes, more deaths.”
Because of this, said Dastidar, Modi has relinquished his right to remain in power. In fact, she said, she was disappointed that members of the ruling coalition were busy listing out the achievements of the government when faced with such tough questions.
“India doesn’t need report cards on your performance. This is not election time,” she implored.
Dastidar also raised some national security concerns. She asked if external powers could be involved in fomenting the troubles.
“How can the common man in Manipur have access to sophisticated weapons like AK47 and grenades, self-loading rifles.“
She claimed that such weapons were now freely available and being moved throughout the North East. “I fear they might find their way into West Bengal also.”
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If it’s not external forces, she asked, was the violence being carried out with the connivance of the state government, and whether all this amounted to ethnic cleansing.
“Is the Centre remaining silent because it had taken help from terrorist organizations. And you are planning to take further help [from terrorist groups] for elections that are lined up,” she asked.
