New Delhi: Saturday saw an escalation in the political rhetoric surrounding the situation in Manipur, as the BJP brought up the atrocities committed against women in West Bengal and Rajasthan and questioned the "silence" of the opposition, who dismissed the BJP's argument as a diversionary tactic to avoid discussing the dire circumstances in the north-eastern state.
The opposition has been calling for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a statement in Parliament about Manipur, to be followed by an open debate in both houses; the government, meanwhile, has accused the opposition of trying to avoid a debate on the issue by setting conditions.
The BJP sent out Union minister Anurag Thakur, who said that states like Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Bihar, which are run by opposition parties, have high rates of violence against women but are using the Manipur episode to score political points.
Former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, as well as the leaders of other opposition parties, were criticised by Thakur during a press conference held at the BJP headquarters here.
There have been over a hundred thousand incidences of violence against women reported in Rajasthan during the past four years. According to Thakur, there have been over 33,000 reports of sexual assault against women in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
In addition to singling out opposition leaders, the ruling party highlighted a video showing two indigenous women being thrashed and stripped in Malda area. Indian government official Dharmendra Pradhan criticised West Bengal's chief minister, Mamata Banerjee.
What happened in West Bengal is much more tragic than what happened in Manipur. Pradhan stated, "A similar cruel act occurred in West Bengal, and I know that a lot of people were outraged by what happened in Manipur.
Both Union Minister Smriti Irani and Thakur have criticised the Congress for dismissing their minister in Rajasthan because he brought up the issue of violence against women in that state.
According to Thakur, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were behind the move.
Since a video dated May 4 showing two women from one of the warring groups in Manipur being paraded naked and attacked by a gang of men from the opposing side emerged on Wednesday, the opposition has launched a new onslaught on the administration. There have been five arrests made thus far in connection with the incident.
The Congress party claimed the BJP was using "whataboutery" to avoid debate in parliament.
Representative for the Congress party Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "The Prime Minister and his drum beaters are diverting and deflecting from the enormous tragedy that has overtaken all of Manipur in the past 80 days by creating false equivalence with an issue relating to Rajasthan." The Congress also posted a photo of Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani alongside the caption "Failed report card" on its Twitter feed.
Irani responded on Twitter, writing, "There are depths of depravity very few are capable of - keeping a scorecard regarding women." Very few people consistently display deliberate ignorance, but it does happen. CONgress gets high marks for both its wickedness and its willful stupidity. If the dynasty allows, we can discuss this in Parliament," she added.
Retaliating against Irani, Congress lawmaker Pawan Khera claimed, "she is questioned over her failures as a minister, she chooses to hide behind the gender argument." Mahua Moitra, a representative for TMC, apologised to the Minister of WCD. It's not quite depravity yet. To attack other states with fake news while ignoring the situation in Manipur is despicable on the part of the BJP. In the words of Congress politician Ranjeet Ranjan: "WCD minister Smriti Irani is shrugging off responsibility over the Manipur horror." "Is this government so afraid of the opposition that it acts like a fugitive?" she questioned.
She said that Irani was only focusing on areas where the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has power, such as Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and ignoring places like Delhi, where police are directly overseen by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
In an effort to defend the TMC head, she said that the DGP has denied any involvement in the Malda tragedy. Being a woman herself, "I know Mamata Banerjee and she is sensitive towards crime against women." West Bengal's Minister for Women and Child Health Shashi Panja has stated that the "scuffle has no political or casteist overtones" in regards to the recent events in Malda.
Republican lawmaker and Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi claimed the PM was "protecting the (Manipur) chief minister and covering up his failures." Sanjay Singh, a member of the AAP, has called for "President's rule" to be implemented.
"It is the BJP that is stalling and disrupting the Parliament," TMC leader Derek O'Brien claimed. On Monday we will begin our discussion on Manipur. The Prime Minister should initiate the debate in either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, depending on his preference. Let's start the Manipur debate, and all of us in the Opposition will speak after the Prime Minister (PM).
Manoj Kumar Jha of the RJD has stated that the administration can yet make a "course correction.
He argued that the CM should be removed and the President should assume executive power for a set amount of time.
He stated, "The process of healing is very important and that should start, as Manipur needs that kind of social and psychological healing right now."
Irani stated that the government had repeatedly asked the opposition to sit down and talk about the problems in the state of Manipur.
Opposition leaders are aware that this is a delicate matter that could affect the country's security. However, opposition leaders were reluctant to raise the issue in the chamber.
What's even more worrisome is that a minister from Rajasthan condemned violence against women only yesterday. But the Congress party just dumped him," the minister stated.
The only solution, according to former union minister Kapil Sibal, is to dismiss the Manipur administration and remove Chief Minister Biren Singh under Article 356. —Inputs from Agencies
