"Little too late...": Congress MP lashes out at Amit Shah's call for all party meeting on Manipur violence

New Delhi [India], June 22 : Congress leader KC Venugopal on Thursday lashed out at Home Minister Amit Shah over his "late" call for an all-party meeting on Manipur violence.

"Well after 50 days of death and destruction in Manipur, HM @AmitShah's call for an all-party meeting is too little too late. The government only woke up after Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji's address to the people of Manipur," Congress MP KC Venugopal wrote on Twitter.

Expressing concern over the prevailing situation in Manipur, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said that the unprecedented violence that has devastated the lives of people in Manipur has "left a deep wound in the conscience of our nation" while appealing for peace and harmony in the state.

"The unprecedented violence that has devastated the lives of people in Manipur has left a deep wound in the conscience of our nation," she said in a tweet.

"At the outset, the PM's absence from such a serious meeting shows his cowardice and unwillingness to confront his failures. Even when multiple delegations sought meetings with him, he had no time for them. The HM himself has presided over this situation and made no progress, in fact things have worsened since his visit," Venugopal further said in his tweet.

"Can we expect genuine peace under his stewardship? Moreover, the continuation of the partisan state government and non-implementation of President's Rule is a travesty. Any effort for peace must take place in Manipur, where the warring communities are brought on the discussion table and a political solution is arrived at," he said regarding the place of the meeting.

"This effort will lack seriousness if it is done sitting in Delhi. The entire nation expects a serious intervention from the Union Government, which has been missing in action so far," he added in his tweet.

This comes after the Ministry of Home Affairs tweeted on Wednesday that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has convened an all-party meeting on 24th June at 3 PM in New Delhi to discuss the situation in Manipur.

The announcement came hours after, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi said that the unprecedented violence that has devastated the lives of people in Manipur has "left a deep wound in the conscience of our nation" while appealing for peace and harmony in the state.

As Manipur is still witnessing incidents like arson, the state government has extended the ban on the internet by five more days till June 25 with immediate effect in an effort to prevent further disturbance to peace.

The data services have also been banned in view of the persisting unrest in the state.

Violence gripped Manipur on May 3 after clashes erupted during a rally organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) to protest the demand for the inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list.

"Further suspension of mobile data services/internet/data services including broadband services and internet/data services through VASTs of Bharatnet Phase-ll is further suspended in the territorial jurisdiction of the state of Manipur, except for those who have already been specifically exempted by the government and may be exempted subsequently and Internet Lease Line (ILL) on a case to basis as permitted by the competent authority," an order issued by Maniour government said on Tuesday, adding it is issued to prevent any disturbances of the peace and public order in the jurisdiction of the state.

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