New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a full-scale counterattack on Congress during his much-anticipated no-confidence motion discussion on Thursday, raking up 'past bloody history' alleging Indira Gandhi's hand in the killing of Manipuris and Mizos in Northeast during the Congress regime.
"I want to ask who ordered killing of Mizos in 1966? It was late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who ordered killing of innocent Mizos, who are not from enemy country, but from India on March 5, 1966. How can the same party can seek accountability from me for violence in Manipur where the seeds of unrest was sown by the same party?" PM Modi questioned amid thumping of his party MPs at the Lok Sabha.
He further said Congress has always played with sentiments of the innocent people of the Northeast whom they eternally neglected. "Call it a DNA defect. History bears testimony to what Congress did to Northeast where disillusioned youths took up arms. It was not their fault as impressionable youths were at crossroads of Congress's wrong policy and decades of neglect," Modi said.
He further said Northeast remains in his 'heart' and added that massive network buildup and unprecedented infra push in Northeast are signs of his focus on the region which was neglected by Congress government and beset with insurgency once.
In his long winding speech peppered with anecdotes to suggest 'wrongdoings', he said Congress is the mother of all problems in Northeast.
"What did Congress do when ISKCON temple was bombed and Netaji idol was blown with bombs in Manipur which was ruled by its own government? Congress has to answer these questions first before attacking me," Modi said.
He also spoke about the 'glorious history of Manipur' saying Manipur was the theatre of freedom struggle of Azad Hind Fauz. "Northeast remains and will always occupy as a special in my heart. My government is committed to its development as we understand its importance as a transit hub for business with ASEAN countries," Modi said.
