Home Minister Amit Shah open to debate on Manipur issue in Lok Sabha asks why opposition is absent?

Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said he would be open to a debate on the Manipur issue in the Lok Sabha and asked why the Opposition, which has been demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the issue, was not present.

In a brief speech in the Lok Sabha, he pleaded with the opposition leaders to allow the discussion and emphasized the importance of the fact that the Manipur issue is being exposed to the country. Shah said the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties have requested to hold a discussion on the Manipur issue once the House reconvenes at 2:30 pm after three previous adjournments on the Manipur issue.

However, Speaker Om Birla called for an end to today's meeting as opposition members persisted in their call for the Prime Minister's statement.

The BJP has come under heavy fire from the public and the opposition for failing to maintain law and order in a state plagued by ethnic violence after a recent viral video of two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted by a mob surfaced on social media.

Sanjay Azad, an AAP lawmaker from the Aam Aadmi Party, was earlier in the day suspended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar for the duration of the monsoon session for no other reason than asking Modi to speak on Manipur in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. While Parliament is in session, it is humiliating for the Prime Minister to speak outside the House, according to Congress chief and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.

According to Kharge, PM Modi has a responsibility to take up the Manipur violence in Parliament in depth.

According to the Grand Old Party chief, the opposition has asked the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha for the Prime Minister to make a statement on the situation in Manipur.