"Manipur situation coming back to normal...not our fault that debate in Parliament came after midnight": Kiren Rijiju

New Delhi [India], April 16 (ANI): Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said that Manipur is not a case where the central government can be put to the test and that the situation in the state is coming back to normal.
In an interview with ANI, Rijiju said the government cannot be blamed for the debate concerning President's Rule in Manipur having been taken up late at night in Parliament, saying the opposition wanted more time for the debate on the Waqf Amendment Bill.
"Initially, I said we could take six hours' discussion (on the Waqf Amendment Bill) because enough has been deliberated in the JPC. Whatever we have to say, let us discuss for six hours. Finally, I agreed for eight hours. But the opposition kept on insisting 12 hours beyond, saying that the chair should take the sense of the house and discuss for a longer period of time and we acceded to it. So, it is not our fault that the Manipur case came right after the Waqf Amendment Bill. As Lok Sabha passed the bill at midnight, we only had one day left in Rajya Sabha," the Union Minister said.
He said it was a constitutional obligation to undertake the ratification process of President's Rule in two months.
"If we don't take up immediately, then it is a constitutional obligation that within two months, the ratification has to take place when there is a proclamation of President's Rule. After six months, it has to be extended through the discussion in the Parliament. Parliament has to pass it. So these are constitutional requirements. Nobody should blame that we took up the Manipur case at midnight," he added.
Answering a query, Rijiju said while there was an incident in Manipur, states in the northeast were seeing rapid progress.
"After 2014 northeast is seeing the true light of development. Barring the Manipur incident every other northeastern region is having an era of peace, tranquillity and development. Manipur issue is not a case where the government can be put to the test. We are not at fault. Before we came to power in 2014, Manipur used to face blockades, ethnic war, ethnic conflicts, so many incidents happening and state used to be under this kind of violence for years, where thousands have already lost their life," Rijiju said.
He also referred to the opposition's demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Manipur and to the violence the state had witnessed before the Modi government came to power at the Centre.
"Did we ever say that the Prime Minister should go there? Why Manipur is happening? Those initial days, all the struggle in the Manipur, all the undergrounds, the militants, they were against the state. This incident in Manipur is not against the state. This is neither a creation of the Central government nor this fight is against the Government of India. It is between two brothers," he said.
He stated that the trigger point of the ethnic clashes was an outcome of the judicial pronouncement, which said that a particular community should be given Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
"The unfortunate trigger point was when the judge of the Manipur High Court passed an order. And remember, it was beyond the judicial scope to declare a particular community as tribal requires certain traits," Rijiju said.
"Don't put fuel in a fire by blaming anybody. Don't blame the central government. Just tell them, we will also help. Initially, when I was a member of parliament, I remember one thing, when Manipur was having a blockade for four or five months consecutively. Nobody from the central government had gone. Then I raised this issue. There was no response from the (then) government," he added.
Rijiju, who is MP from Arunachal West, said all communities in the northeast have to stay together.
"We are living in the same region. The fact, the reality is that we have to coexist together. Other than that, there is no alternative. That is a reality," he said. (ANI)