'Efforts On To Find Sense Of Normalcy': EAM Jaishankar Responds to Manipur Question in NY

External Affairs Minister (EAM), S Jaishankar on Tuesday said, that efforts are on to bring back a sense of normalcy in Manipur. He was speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York when a question was asked on the situation in the northeastern state of India.

The minister said, “If you ask me what is happening today in Manipur…One part of the problem in Manipur has been the destabilising impact of migrants who have come…There are also tensions which have a long history…The effort is on the part of the State government and Union government, to find a way by which a sense of normalcy returns.”

In the public gathering, EAM said, to return the sense of normalcy, both governments are making efforts on there parts such that seized arms during the tense period are recovered and there is enforcement of adequate law-and-order so that incidents of violence don’t happen.

Earlier, a group of experts from the United Nations asserted that they are appalled by the reports and images in Manipur targeting women and girls in particular. The expert group urged Indian government to take robust actions to investigate and hold the culprits accountable.

These experts further raised alarms on serious human rights abuses, extrajudicial- killings, sexual violence, home destruction, and forced displacement in Manipur. However, Indian government had rejected these claims and termed them, unwarranted, presumptive and misleading.

In the gathering, Jaishankar was also asked about dismissing of the claims put forth by UN expert group and calling them presumptive. To this question, EAM replied, “The comment wasn’t made by me personally but by the spokesperson. Was that comment correct? My answer to you would be yes.”

Questions were also asked on freedom and democracy status in India citing various foreign reports. He said, “I think it answers the question if you would be objective enough to understand it. I think it says very clearly that the people who are writing these reports have a strong bias, often they distort facts. Many of these reports are actually riddled with inaccuracies.”