​​​Manipur has been torn in half; result of politics of division, hatred: Rahul Gandhi attacks BJP-led Centre | India News

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday blamed the BJP-led Centre for for creating deep divisions in Manipur, and said it may take at least five years to bring the northeastern state back on its feet.

Gandhi was in Kerala to attend events in his constituency Wayanad — his first visit since he was reinstated as MP — and Kozhikode.

At a public meeting in Wayanad’s Kalpetta, Gandhi recounted the harrowing experience he had during his visit to violence-hit Manipur and said during his 19 years of political life, he had never come across such a situation.
“Somebody’s family members have been murdered; somebody’s house has been burnt. It is as if somebody threw kerosene on Manipur and set it on fire,” he said.

In Kozhikode, the former AICC president laid the foundation stone of a Community Disability Management Center in Kodenchery.

During his address, Gandhi once again touched on the Manipur issue and attacked the BJP.
“Manipur has been torn in half, the wounds inflicted will take years to heal … For me it is a lesson on what happens when you use politics of division, hatred, anger in a state,” Rahul said, adding: “I have been disturbed by what happened to Manipur and its people. The violence needs to be stopped immediately.”
The MP said his delegation was told, before entering a Meitei area in Manipur, that “if any Kuki was there in our security team, he would be killed”.
“Similarly, before entering the Kuki area, we were told that if any Meitei was there in our security team, he would be shot dead. So, we had to remove Kukis from our security team before visiting the Meitei area. In the same manner, we had to remove Meiteis from our security team before visiting Kuki area,” he said.
“There is a complete divide in Manipur. There is blood everywhere, there is murder everywhere, there is rape everywhere in the state,” Gandhi said.
He said it took two months to break Manipur, and it may take five years to rebuild it. “But we will do it. It is going to be the difference between the BJP and the Congress,” he said.
Anybody who “murders” the idea of India cannot love India, he added.
(With inputs from agencies)