The continuing violence in the northeastern state of Manipur is disturbing and needs to be stopped immediately, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday.
He said the violence in the state was a direct result of a particular type of politics of division, hatred and anger.
“So, it is important to to keep everyone together as a family,” said Gandhi, who was on a two-day visit to Kerala and will return to Delhi tonight.
The wounds inflicted as a result of the violence would take many years to heal, said Gandhi at an event after laying the foundation stone of the Community Disability Management Center (CDMC) at St Joseph High School Auditorium in Kodenchery in Kozhikode.
“The sadness and anger will not go away so easily,” he added.
He also said that the violence in Manipur was a lesson to him on what happens when you use politics of division, hatred and anger in a state.
Gandhi is on a visit to Kerala for the first time after his reinstatement as MP of Wayanad.
The CBI is set to investigate nine more cases related to Manipur violence, which will take the total number of cases probed by the agency to 17, said a PTI report citing officials.
The probe by the central agency would not be limited to these 17 cases. Any other case related to crime against women or sexual assault may also be referred to it on priority, said the PTI report citing officials.
More than 160 people have been killed, and several hundred injured since ethnic violence first broke out in the state on May 3 when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
Meiteis account for about 53% of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40% and reside mostly in the hill districts.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Updated: 13 Aug 2023, 08:50 PM IST