Jammu: There should be no politics over the'shameful' episode in Manipur, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday, and he urged the opposition parties to abandon their "singular agenda" of criticising the BJP-led administration. He also criticised West Bengal's Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, saying that "leaders toeing the Pakistani line on the incident are harming their reputation among the masses who know the reality" in reference following the terrorist assault in Pulwama in 1999. After hearing the prime minister say on the first day in Parliament that the entire nation is ashamed and that no one will be let off the hook, there is no point in playing politics with the Manipur incident. Singh, speaking to reporters after a local event, said, "There is nothing much to add as Narendra Modi's statement makes his government's intent clear." On May 3, when a "Tribal Solidarity March" was arranged in the hill regions to protest against the Meitei community's quest for Scheduled Tribe (ST) classification, ethnic violence broke out in Manipur, resulting in the deaths of over 160 persons and the injuries of many more. Last week, tensions escalated after a video apparently recorded on May 4 leaked online, depicting members from one of the warring communities parading two women from the other community naked.
About 53% of Manipur's population are Meiteis, and they are concentrated in the Imphal valley. The remaining 40% are tribals, such as the Nagas and Kukis, and they are spread out across the state's hill regions. The Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, Singh, claimed that the Opposition has consistently been hypocritical in its denunciation of homicides and other breaches of human rights.