April 3, 2025
MP Derek O’Brien, Parliamentary Party Leader in Rajya Sabha, speaking on the Proclamation issued by the President on February 13, 2025 under Article 356(1) of the Constitution in relation to the State of Manipur
Sir, 3,80,000 kilometres! That is the number. It is 3,80,000 kilometres. We have done a calculation that in the last 22 months, how much the Prime Minister of India has travelled nationally and internationally. I may be wrong by a thousand kilometres this way or that way, but it is 3,80,000 kilometres. That is a lot of kilometres! One more number is, 3,80,000 kilometres is the distance from Planet Earth to the Moon. It is the distance from Planet Earth to the Moon. But the same man could not take a flight of 2,400 kilometres to a State called Manipur. I can carry on with numbers, but I want to stay with Manipur. Otherwise, I can start that you thought you would get 400; you didn’t get 350; you dropped below 303; you would be happy with 272; and, now you are a creaky and shaky coalition with 240. Sir, I went to Manipur with my colleagues because the All India Trinamool Congress and Ms. Mamata Banerjee sent us there. We went there in July. We got as far as the airport; we spent the day there; we met a few people. We couldn’t go in, but we tried. Then, all the Opposition Parties, a few months later, went to the hon. President and presented our case to the President of India. It has been 22 months; and, now, after these 22 months, we are here today. Sir, there has been prolonged violence. Children, orphans, women, men, the elderly, shopkeepers and everyone have been affected. The problem is, 22 months have finished, but you are still so arrogant that you won’t even acknowledge that there is a problem. That’s your problem. Show some humility. First, acknowledge that there is a problem. And worse still, you go and talk to the people. When I met one simple man and his young wife, he told it to me very beautifully. He said, at that time when it starts, for every month this problem lasts and festers as a wound, it will take years to fix. Twenty-two months, Mr. Prime Minister, through you, I say, will take 22 years to fix in that State. Sir, we are a Council of States. And what are you trying to do? On the last day of this Parliament Session, you brought this Resolution; you could not have brought the Statutory Resolution on day one and discussed it. Who are you trying to show it from the Council of States at 3 o’clock in the morning? What 3 o’clock, if you bring it at 5 o’clock, we will be here to discuss it! Did you see what happened just now? Did you see what happened? A BJP Member was given 15 minutes to speak on Manipur. I saw two people, floor managers, going and requesting him to cut it down and finish it in two. He finished in two minutes. Talking about Manipur! Talking about love for Manipur from this Council of States and in the morning we have to hear: “Today is Rajya Sabha Day.” Yes, it is Rajya Sabha Day, actually, yesterday. This is a message from the Council of States, from the Trinamool Congress. Sir, if he starts heckling, that is a bad example for all of us. If you want to interrupt, I would yield, speak! Come on. When Trinamool speaks from the back, four Ministers interrupt. Allow us to speak. I have not spoken at all in this Session. I have not made a single speech. Allow me to speak. If I say something unparliamentary, throw it out. The message from the Council of States to the hills and the valleys of Manipur, is that “We are with you”. From the Council of States to Kerala, we are with you. From the Council of States to Goa — where you are trying to turn it into a concrete jungle — we are with you. And Bengal, we all know about Bengal. Rs. 1.75 lakh crores, we would not go there today! Manipur; what is their fault? They are Indian citizens, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, they are all there. Why are you doing this to them? And worse still, the irony is, we are discussing this State in the way we are doing this in Parliament, in the dead of night, three in the morning. No TV channels, no prime time. Why? Look at Manipur during the day. Look at Manipur in the eye and talk to Manipur Night means it is sinister. And do not tell us about endurance because I come from a Party where my Leader, for farmers, went on a hunger strike for 26 days. So never talk to me about endurance. You talk about women, what do you do to the women of Manipur? Do you not remember that picture which went international, those two women? Women, women, women! Do not talk to us about women. You have 14 per cent to 15 per cent in Parliament. We have 39 per cent who have won elections and come. We do not have any MLAs in Manipur, we do not have a party in Manipur but we are still there for Manipur. That is the spirit of the Council of States. That is the spirit. Let us not… Very good, very good! Beautiful! Sir, I seek your protection. It is 3 o’clock in the morning. And before I end, there are two more points. One is, as an Opposition, like-minded parties, we have been asking from day one. Choose a subject and give us a two-and-a-half hour discussion. Nothing! But we will still discuss at 2 a.m., 3 a.m. Very good, we will discuss. Give Opposition one notice. One notice! No, you do not. The problem is, I started with numbers so I will finish with numbers. You think you are 56 inch — I am not referring to any individual — but this morning, you were reminded, you are not 56 inch. You are 26 percent. If you have not understood the tariff, then understand it now. My Prime Minister, your Prime Minister, our Prime Minister, is in Bangkok and I wish him well and he has gone on official work. Good, Sir. My request, on behalf of my Party and us here and maybe the people of Manipur, is a very simple ten words’ text message to him and nothing more. It is ten words’ text message. Please text the hon. Prime Minister tonight and I quote. This is not from any holy book. I will tell you who wrote it, but these are beautiful ten words and I want to leave with this message. ‘When you hurt people, they begin to love you less.’ This is by Arundhati Roy, of her beautiful book, ‘The God of Small Things’. Thank you, Sir. (
