By Sravasti Dasgupta

The yatra will cover 6,700 km from Thoubal, Manipur to Mumbai and touch 110 districts, 100 Lok Sabha seats, and 337 assembly constituencies in what is the biggest mass outreach ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has promised a united fight to bring back peace harmony and affection that Manipur has lost in the eight months since ethnic violence first started in the state, and listen to the people’s “mann ki baat” as he kick started the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Thoubal on Sunday (January 14). Gandhi flagged off the yatra in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and other senior Congress leaders including Pradesh Congress Committee presidents and Congress chief ministers Siddaramaiah and Revanth Reddy.
While the party had said that it had extended an invitation to INDIA alliance members, the only leader from Delhi was suspended Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Danish Ali.
Manipur has been in the grip of ethnic violence since May 3, 2023 in which over 170 people have lost their lives and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes.
Gandhi, who started the yatra by first paying tributes at the Khongjom War Memorial in Thoubal, said that when the Congress party was deliberating upon where to begin the second instalment of the yatra, which has been rechristened as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the answer was clear to him.
Volunteer stalls outside public meeting venue in Thoubal Manipur asking people to join the yatra by giving missed calls. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta
“When the question came up about where to start this yatra, some suggested east some suggested west. But it was clear to me that the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra can only start from Manipur,” he said.
Gandhi said that the continued violence in the state shows that the state is an example of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-RSS’ “ideology of hate.”
“Manipur is an example of the BJP-RSS’ ideology of hate. Yes, you’ve lost what you valued but we will find it back. We understand the pain and hurt and loss sadness that people of Manipur have been through. We promise you and commit to you that we will bring what you value, the harmony, peace and affection that this state is known for,” he said.
While the north-south Bharat Jodo Yatra was conducted from October 2022 to January 2023 from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, the present leg will be an east to west yatra that will go from Manipur to Mumbai and end in March.
The yatra was earlier expected to begin from Manipur’s capital Imphal but was moved to a private ground in Thoubal after the BJP state government refused to provide permission for a public rally in Imphal.
Gandhi said that yatra will raise issues about economic, political and social inequalities as India is going through a period of “injustice.”
“This is less about us and more about you. We don’t want to tell you our mann ki baat.We want to listen to yours. And together with you the vision of India will not be of violence hatred, monopoly but of harmonious equitable and brotherhood vision,” he said.
The yatra will cover 6,700 km and touch 110 districts, 100 Lok Sabha seats, and 337 assembly constituencies in what is the biggest mass outreach ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
However, on Saturday, Congress MP and general secretary in-charge media and communication Jairam Ramesh said to reporters in Imphal that the yatra will be political but not electoral.
“This is not an electoral yatra, it is an ideological yatra. It is a political rally by a political party. There is a political purpose to protect the constitution. But not to discuss seats and impact on seats (for the elections),” he said.
Ramesh said that the decision to start from Manipur was a “deliberate choice” as the prime minister is yet to visit the state.
“There is no bigger anyay(injustice) than this to Manipur. The tensions in the last eight months in which lakhs have been displaced and many have lost their lives yet he has not broken his silence.
“Manipur has gone through agony, social harmony has been disturbed. This was going to be an east to west yatra. But we decided to start from Manipur to highlight what has been going on and to highlight that the PM has not met anyone from the state yet. We are hoping people of Manipur will see this difference,” he said.
Kharge also took aim at Modi for not visiting Manipur and accused him of chanting the name of Ram while carrying hatred.
“He (the PM) always comes here for votes. But when people of Manipur were suffering and facing violence the Prime Minister did not bother to visit them even once while he had all the time to roam on the beaches and go snorkelling into the sea and sit and chant ‘Ram Ram’. Mukh mein Ram, bagal mein choori mat karo (Don’t chant the name of Ram and keep a knife on your side),” he said.
“We want peace”
Locals who had come to the venue in Khongjom, Thoubal, said that he had come for “peace and harmony.”
Thombi, an elderly woman, who had come from a village about 20 kms from Khongjom along with two other women from her village said that she had come to see Rahul Gandhi.
“We want to see peace and harmony and hear what he has to say,” she said.
Thombi (left corner) who had come from a village about 20kms Khongjom to the yatra. Photo: Sravasti Dasguptaripla
A former defence personnel, N.D. Singh, also a resident of Thoubal said that whether it is the Congress or the BJP-they should look at Manipur through the lens of humanity.
“No one cares about what has been happening here for the last eight months. Everyone in Manipur will tell you what’s going on yet no one cares. The prime minister has not come here, the home minister has come only once. Whether it is BJP or Congress they should look at us through the lens of humanity,” he said.
“I cannot think of a better way to counter the politics of otherness than the song- apne ho ya paraye sabke liye ho nyay. That very much is the spirit that informs this yatra. We are not from Congress and we represent people’s movements. Why we support this is because a call for nyay is so desperately needed because Manipur is the right place as it represents the grossest injustices in independent India. In rest of the country there is such ignorance about Manipur. We hope this yatra will bring light to the true character of this place, its deep diversity and the role of its women that needs to be celebrated,” political activist Yogendra Yadav said to The Wire.
The Wirehas learnt that during his stay in Manipur on Sunday and Monday, Gandhi will meet both Meitei and Kuki groups. While he is expected to meet the Meitei groups around Imphal, he will meet the Kuki groups as he makes his way towards Nagaland on Monday.
Whether Gandhi’s message of unity and brotherhood will permeate to the conflict struck state however is still not clear.
“It is a positive message that he is starting his yatra from Manipur and talking about peace but it may not help de-escalate the situation without the state and central government’s support. The people need government intervention to bring peace. Once the government steps in, especially the central government, and takes decisive measures to bring peace between the two communities then it will help calm tensions in the state,” a young graduate who had come to attend the yatra but did not wish to be named said.

Courtesy: The Wire