They want a discussion and they want it NOW. And they are not mincing their words. Dola Sen and Derek O’Brien, Trinamul Rajya Sabha Members of Parliament have been putting pressure on the BJP government at the Centre to address the issue of Manipur and they have been sending out the message by myriad methods including social media – namely Twitter and Whatsapp – and a series of videotapes. Sen and O’Brien both went to Manipur along with other Trinamul and Opposition Unity (I.N.D.I.A) leaders to assess the situation and according to them what they witnessed was devastating.
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee (ANI Photo)
They want a discussion and they want it NOW. And they are not mincing their words. Dola Sen and Derek O’Brien, Trinamul Rajya Sabha Members of Parliament have been putting pressure on the BJP government at the Centre to address the issue of Manipur and they have been sending out the message by myriad methods including social media – namely Twitter and Whatsapp – and a series of videotapes. Sen and O’Brien both went to Manipur along with other Trinamul and Opposition Unity (I.N.D.I.A) leaders to assess the situation and according to them what they witnessed was devastating.
A videotape of Sen explaining the plight of Manipuris as the Northeastern state continued to grapple with unabated violence since May 3, had gone viral earlier this week. In an interview to The Statesman, Sen said, “Manipur is burning. People dying, people getting injured in the violence and people suffering in different ways – nothing seems to be touching the hearts of the government at the Centre which continues to maintain silence on the issue. People of that state are struggling.
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Even essentials like food – even baby food – medicines and other rudimentary requirements are not reaching the people. We have done all that can be done to put pressure on the Central government to discuss and address the issue in the parliament but there is no response.” Over the period of the last couple of weeks, O’Brien too released two videotapes demanding that the Prime Minister meet the Opposition in parliament.
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He harshly criticised the government for its lack of initiative to discuss the issue and addressing the PM, O’Brien said that every former Prime Minister from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi to Dr Manmohan Singh to even Atal Bihari Vajpayee from his own political party (BJP) had faced the Opposition in parliament when they were at the receiving end of scathing criticism for serious issues. He urged the PM to take inspiration at least from Vajpayee since he belonged to the same political party and discuss the issue.
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