In a tweet, Sibal stated, “Manipur burning once more. Earlier clashes led to: 70 lifeless, 200 injured. ‘Coronavirus’ only affects the human body, ‘communal virus’ affects the body politic.”
“If it (communal virus) spreads, the implications are unimaginable. Its political dividends are short-term, its scars are everlasting!” stated Sibal, who was a Union minister throughout UPA 1 and a pair of and had give up the Congress in May final yr. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party’s help.
Sibal recently floated a non-electoral platform ‘Insaaf’ aimed at fighting injustice.
The Opposition has been hitting out at the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state for the violence in Manipur.
In fresh violence in Manipur, no casualty was reported due to the arson.
Around 10,000 Army and Assam Rifles jawans are currently deployed in the state. Earlier, clashes had broken out in Manipur after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organized in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The violence in Manipur was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
The ethnic clashes claimed over 70 lives and some 10,000 army and paramilitary personnel had to be deployed to restore normalcy in the northeastern state.
