It’s heartbreaking… Manipur needs healing: Rahul Gandhi appeals for peace

Imphal (Manipur): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to the violence-hit Manipur, said on Friday that the most important thing the state needed was peace.

Taking to Instagram, the former Wayanad MP said the plight of the people who had lost loved ones and home was heartbreaking.

‘There is a cry for help in the face of every brother, sister and child I meet’, he said.

Appealing for peace, he said efforts must be united towards ensuring peace, securing lives and livelihoods of ‘our’ people.

Rahul Gandhi is expected to meet leaders of 10 like-minded parties alongside huddling with leaders of United Naga Council (UNC) and civil society outfits in Imphal, Congress sources said.

Manipur Congress president, Keisham Meghachandra said Rahul Gandhi would visit the relief camps in Moirang, and later meet party leaders at Imphal Hotel.

Arrived in Manipur on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that authorities were stopping him from meeting the victims of the continuing ethnic violence in Moirang.

Keisham Meghachandra previously said that Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Moirang was cancelled after administration denied permission.

‘The administration did not permit him to come to Moirang - neither by road nor by air. He could meet the violence-affected people only in Churachandpur,’ he said.

Accusing the administration of stopping him, Rahul Gandhi earlier said that he came to the state to listen to ‘all my brothers and sisters of Manipur’, adding that ‘Manipur needs healing. Peace has to be our only priority’.