Manipur violence is State-sponsored, says Kavitha

BRS MLC K Kavitha said the violence was State-sponsored and that both the BJP-led government at the Centre and in Manipur had failed to quell the violence.

Hyderabad: Strongly condemning the violence and crime in Manipur, BRS MLC K Kavitha said the violence was State-sponsored and that both the BJP-led government at the Centre and in Manipur had failed to quell the violence.

Taking part in a short discussion on tribal welfare and distribution of podu land pattas in the Legislative Council on Saturday, Kavitha said the BJP government had created rift between the two ethnic groups of Kukis and Meiteis and turned the entire State into a war zone. “BJP has pitted the two communities in Manipur against each other. It’s a State sponsored violence. Everyone should condemn it,” she said.

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Coming down heavily on BJP, she said the saffron party was following a ‘Divide and Rule’ policy for electoral gains, whereas BRS under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao was moving forward with the moto of ‘Unite and Prosper’.

Joining the issue, Congress MLC T Jeevan Reddy urged the State government to pass a resolution in the Assembly condemning the violence in Manipur. “The people of Manipur should know that people of Telangana are with them. We need to condemn the violence with one voice,”he said.

The senior Congress leader, while criticising the Manipur government for its failure in bringing peace in that State, alleged that the way things were happening, it had become clear that it was State-sponsored violence indeed. BRS member Goreti Venkanna too criticised the Manipur government for its failure to control the violence.

Earlier, speaking on tribal welfare, Kavitha said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had diluted Forest Acts to benefit rich corporate houses by bringing in new forest conservation rules. The Centre was not implementing the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act properly causing loss to tribal communities, she said, adding that Telangana was the only State in the country where the PESA Act was being implemented in letter and spirit.

Calling the Centre anti-tribal, she said the Centre was not releasing funds to States under the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan. The Telangana government, on the other hand, has brought the ST Special Development Fund (STSDF) under which so far it has allocated Rs.91,531 crore and spent Rs.56,000 crore on various schemes and development programmes for tribals.