India’s parliament was disrupted for a third day on Monday due to opposition protests against ethnic clashes in a remote northeastern state where more than 130 people have been killed since May.
Opposition lawmakers held banners and chanted slogans outside the parliament building as they demanded a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the violence in Manipur state ahead of a debate on the issue.
Last week, Modi broke more than two months of public silence on the ethnic clashes and told reporters that the mob’s attacks on two women marching naked were unforgivable, but did not address violence in general.
His comments came after a video showing the attacks sparked widespread outrage on social media despite the web shutdown and shutdown of news hounds in the state. It shows two surrounded by dozens of young men touching their genitals and dragging them into a field.
The emblematic video of the quasi-civil war in Manipur, where mobs looted villages and burned houses. The standoff was sparked through an affirmative action controversy in which Christian Kukis protested a call through the top Hindu Meiteis for special prestige that would allow them to buy land in the populated hills through Kukis and other tribal teams and get a percentage of government jobs.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said Monday that the government is in a position to talk about the scenario in Manipur. question,” he told the small space of Parliament.
Both houses of parliament have been suspended several times as the opposition disrupted proceedings with its request for a Modi statement. The sessions were suspended on Thursday and Friday.
The chairman of the main opposition Congress party, Mallikarjun Kharge, tweeted that it was “Modi’s duty to make a full statement in parliament on the violence in Manipur. “
People take part in a protest against ethnic violence and mob attacks against two women who marched naked in Manipur, Kolkata, India, Saturday, July 22, 2023. More than 130 people have been killed since violence erupted in early May. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
The violence in Manipur and the harrowing video sparked protests across the country. On Monday, dozens more people piled up in Indian Kashmir and protesters with banners took to the streets of the eastern city of Kolkata.
Over the weekend, nearly another 15,000 people staged a protest sit-in in Manipur, which was not easy given the swift arrest of those involved in the attack, which occurred in May. They also called for the dismissal of Biren Singh, the state’s most sensible elected official who also belongs to Modi’s party.
The state government said last week that 4 suspects had been arrested and that police were conducting raids to arrest the suspects.