Silence on Manipur not normal, says MP Akoijam

New Delhi: Lok Sabha member A Bimol Akoijam expressed his anguish over the absence of any reference to ethnic violence-hit Manipur in President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament. In a fiery speech late Monday night, the first-time Congress member from Inner Manipur drew attention to the 60,000 people living in deplorable conditions in relief camps in the northeastern state for the past year.

Akoijam, a professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, was the last speaker in the Lok Sabha on Monday and spoke close to midnight. “The hurt, the anger has thrown a nobody like me to be part of this temple of democracy, beating the BJP cabinet minister. Think about the pain. I will keep quiet the moment the Prime Minister opens his mouth and the nationalist party says that Manipur is a part of India and we care for the people of that state,” said Akoijam, who defeated Union minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh in the recent elections.