Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first visit to Manipur since the state was engulfed by ethnic violence more than two years ago has been met with a storm of criticism from the Congress party. Opposition leaders have collectively labeled the trip "too little, too late," dismissing it as a token gesture and a "grave insult" to the thousands who have suffered through the protracted conflict.For months, the Congress has relentlessly questioned the Prime Minister's silence and absence from the strife-torn state, a point they've raised repeatedly in Parliament. Now that the visit has happened, they argue it falls drastically short of what is needed."Not Repentance, Not Even Guilt"Leading the charge was Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, who called the brief visit a "3-hour pit stop" and a clear sign of a lack of genuine empathy. He argued that the planned roadshows in Imphal and Churachandpur were nothing more than a "cowardly escape" from confronting the reality of the situation and listening to the stories of those still languishing in relief camps.Kharge drew a sharp contrast between the Prime Minister's packed international travel schedule and his avoidance of Manipur. "In the last 864 days since the violence began...PM Modi has undertaken 46 foreign trips, but could not spare a single minute to offer sympathy to our own citizens," he stated. He pointed to the grim statistics—nearly 300 lives lost, 67,000 people displaced—and said the hurried visit was neither a sign of "repentance" nor "guilt." Kharge accused the Prime Minister of orchestrating a grand welcome for himself, calling it a "cruel prick to the wounds of those still suffering.""A Farce and an Insult"Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh echoed this sentiment, describing the visit as a "farce" and a deep "insult to the people of the state who have waited for him for 29 long and agonising months." Ramesh questioned what meaningful engagement could possibly be achieved in just a few hours, calling the trip a "non-visit" that revealed a profound "callousness and insensitivity.""Tone-Deaf Optics"Gaurav Gogoi, the Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, slammed the visit as being "two years late" and more about image management than genuine reconciliation. He asserted that a prime ministerial visit should have been the very first step toward healing when the violence first erupted. According to Gogoi, the first thing the Prime Minister should have done was apologize to the people of Manipur for his prolonged absence.Instead, Gogoi said the "optics are tone deaf," arguing that the visit seemed designed for public relations rather than addressing the deep-seated pain and division on the ground. He stressed that a brief trip should not be mistaken for a solution, but should mark the start of a long and difficult journey toward justice and peace in a state that remains deeply fractured.The unified critique from the Congress party paints a picture of a prime ministerial visit that, in their view, was a superficial and belated attempt to address a crisis that demanded a much earlier and more sincere response.
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