Chidambaram expresses regret over PM’s absence in Manipur visit

 Ethnic clashes erupted in Manipur on May 3 and since then hundreds of people have lost their lives whereas thousands have been forced to take refuge in relief camps.

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday took a dig at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and also questioned the Prime Minister over not visiting violence-hit Manipur.

In a tweet, Chidambaram said, “Ethnic cleansing is shameful,” admitted the Home Minister. It happened under his watch. He added that it is ‘more shameful’ that politics is being played on it. He is wrong.” “Raising and debating the issue of ethnic cleansing is the duty of every citizen, especially of political leaders and MPs. What is regretful is that the Prime Minister has not found the time to visit Manipur in the last 100 days,” the Congress leader added.

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His remarks came a day after Shah, while speaking in the Lok Sabha on the no-confidence motion, said that the ethnic strife in Manipur “is shameful, but what ‘s more shameful is how the opposition is playing politics over the issue”.

“Why was the video not shared with the DGP and police agencies? Why were the cops kept in dark about the incidents?” Shah asked in the Lok Sabha. He said, “Once the video came in public domain, we acted immediately. We identified the culprits and arrested them.”

Ethnic clashes erupted in Manipur on May 3 and since then hundreds of people have lost their lives whereas thousands have been forced to take refuge in relief camps.

A no-trust motion has been brought by the Congress on behalf of the opposition bloc of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in Lok Sabha over Manipur.

The debate was initiated on Tuesday by Congress Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi. On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi and several other opposition MPs slammed the government while Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Amit Shah spoke against the no-trust motion. The no-trust motion will conclude with the Prime Minister’s reply on Thursday.