- Mohan Bhagwat has addressed 160 eminent citizens of Manipur at the new RSS office in Imphal
- "Whatever the Sangh can do, it will do for Manipur... It is doing it for three years," Mohan Bhagwat said
- The visit is his first since the 2023 ethnic clashes, involving meetings with tribal leaders
Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has told the people of Manipur that the state has been in the thoughts of the organisation even if the government did not know about it.
Speaking at Bhaskar Prabha, the new Sangh office in Imphal, Bhagwat addressed 160 eminent citizens of Manipur.
He spoke extensively about the Manipur conflict, expressing his concerns.
Answering questions about the road to peace, he said: "Whatever the Sangh can do, it will do for Manipur and it is already doing it for the last three years. Whether the government knows or not, we are concerned".
"We are concerned about each and every part of Bharat," he said. "We have our organisation everywhere and this is possible because of you. We don't exist because of any government. We do everything that's possible, for you. We don't leave any stone unturned," he added.
Bhagwat's three-day visit in Manipur is a first since the ethnic clashes started in 2023. He is meeting tribal leaders and young people in Imphal on Friday. The closed-door meetings are taking place amid tight security. President's Rule, imposed since the ethnic violence broke out, continues in Manipur.
Bhagwat's visit also comes two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state.
He initiated a number of development projects and also visited Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, one of the areas worst-hit by the violence that claimed at least 260 lives and left thousands displaced.
Last year, Bhagwat had said that Manipur should be given priority and asked the government to help end the violence after the Lok Sabha elections.
"Manipur is waiting for peace for the last one year. There was peace in Manipur 10 years ago. It felt like the gun culture had finished there. But the state had suddenly seen violence," he had said.
Attending the RSS meet for the first time, Rajkumari Sunita, who works on the watershed project, told NDTV, this was an "awakening" for her.
"There was a feeling of nationality and awakening. It is more of a wakeup call. This meeting was a reminder of what do we owe to our country and not feel out of place since the Manipur conflict," she told NDTV.
