Ukhrul, September 16: In a sharply critical assessment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Manipur, his first in over 28 months after the May 2023 communal crisis, Paolienlal Haokip, a BJP MLA from Churachandpur district, has said that the September 13 visit was “disappointing” and “it failed expectations”. Haokip said the Prime Minister’s speech was a “hollow rhetoric”.
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“No amount of hollow rhetoric can restore peace and justice … in the context of the conflict he (the PM) said nothing,” Haokip said in a recent interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire.
Haokip said the Prime Minister had no roadmap to offer the people of Manipur ensuring justice. As he put it, there’s “nothing to look forward to”.
The Prime Minister’s visit “might serve political optics” but “as far as addressing core issues it was not what was expected. It was disappointing,” Haokip added.
Haokip further said that the development projects PM Modi announced totaling close to Rs. 8,000 crore were not the need of the hour, and added that many of them were any way in the pipeline for quite a while.
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Pointing out that only a small percentage of these projects are intended for the Kuki areas, Haokip said the majority are for the Meitei dominated Valley. This will underline the differential treatment of the Meitei and Kuki communities, he said.
Haokip was also critical of the fact that the Prime Minister did not meet any Manipuri legislators, including MLAs from his party, the BJP. Nor did the Prime Minister meet NGOs or civil society groups, he mentioned in the interview.
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