In a scathing attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on May 3, has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being “apathetic” and “remorseless” over the unabated violence that has gripped Manipur for a year now.

Marking the grim anniversary of the state’s descent into chaos on May 3, 2023, Kharge took to X (formerly Twitter) to lambast the Modi government’s handling of the crisis. “Humanity perished in Manipur,” he wrote, blaming the “cruel combination of an apathetic Modi Govt and an inept BJP State Govt” for virtually dividing the state into two halves.

Kharge highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's absence from the border state, saying, "A remorseless PM Modi has not set foot in this border state, for it exposes his rank incompetency and absolute indifference. His ego has damaged the social fabric of a beautiful state."

The Congress chief accused the BJP of making lives miserable for the people of Manipur and the Northeast, asserting that the government’s “shameless drumbeating about so-called development drowned the voices of humanity in the region.”

Citing the staggering toll of over 220 lives lost, 60,000 displaced, and thousands languishing in camps under “abominable conditions,” Kharge declared that the people of India now know the Modi government has “no iota of sympathy for the countless lives they destroyed in Manipur.”

He also mentioned the horrific instances of violence, including rape, public humiliation of women, and clashes between police trainees from different communities. Kharge criticised the Prime Minister for keeping “quiet” until outrage forced him to pay “lip-service” in August 2023, which now “reverberates hollow.”

The Congress leader further highlighted the security personnel being martyred, the looting of arms and ammunition, and the coercion of MPs/MLAs by an armed group at the heavily guarded Kangla Fort, where the Congress state President was “brutally assaulted and tortured.”

Concluding his scathing remarks, Kharge stated, “There is no semblance of governance. Law and order has collapsed. With deep sense of sadness, we pay our tribute to the countless innocent lives who suffered this unimaginable violence and who are still suffering, searching for a glimmer of hope for peace to return. Due to the BJP, normalcy and peace evades Manipur.”

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