PM Modi owes Manipur apology for not showing up in two years: Gaurav Gogoi

Guwahati, Sep 6: Senior Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely visit to Manipur should not be seen as the end of a goal, but rather as the start on a long journey to bring peace back to the state.

Gogoi, the deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, on the sidelines of a programme in New Delhi on Friday, said, "We cannot say that normalcy has returned to Manipur... there is no elected government, so Modi's visit should not be seen as the end goal."

Gogoi says PM’s visit marks only the beginning of Manipur’s long road to peace and reconciliation.

Emphasising that the relationship among the people of Manipur must heal, their aspirations must be met, he said, "I hope that the BJP understands that the PM's visit is not the end but only a beginning which has come very much delayed".

The likely visit of the PM should have been planned two years ago, and there are still many more milestones to overcome, the Assam Congress president claimed. "As they say that justice delayed is justice denied, people of Manipur have been denied of the PM's visit for far too long," he said.

He hoped that when the PM arrives, the first thing he should do is to "apologise to the people of Manipur for not showing up for the last two years".

Regarding Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's claim that the SIT will submit its report on the investigations into alleged links between Pakistan national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and his partners in India on September 10, Gogoi said the Congress will continue to highlight the various "scams" under the BJP government in the state.

The Chief Minister has been attacking Gogoi over his wife Elizabeth Colburn's alleged connection with Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

Sarma had alleged that Gogoi's wife had "good relations" with the Pakistan Army and even the MP had visited the neighbouring country "in a personal and not official capacity" and stayed there for 15 days.

On the new Immigration and Foreigners' (Exemption) Order, 2025, Gogoi said that it has negated the Assam Accord, and such an important matter should have been first discussed in Parliament.

The order of the Ministry of Home Affairs allows minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians, who entered India till December 31, 2024, to escape religious persecution, to stay in the country.

PTI