Derek O’Brien’s Scathing Attack: “PM Could Travel to the Moon, But Not to Manipur”
In a fiery 3 AM speech, he accused PM Modi of flying 3.8 lakh km in two years—“the distance to the moon”—but never visiting Manipur. “Show some humility,” he urged.
BY Navin Upadhyay
A day after tabling a resolution to ratify President’s Rule in Manipur at 2 AM in the Lok Sabha, the government brought the same resolution before the Rajya Sabha at 3 AM—sparking fierce protests from the Opposition, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and TMC MP Derek O’Brien.
Early Friday morning, the Rajya Sabha adopted the Statutory Resolution confirming the imposition of President’s Rule in strife-torn Manipur. Members across party lines largely supported the decision, even as the opposition lashed out at the Centre for allowing the situation in the northeastern state to deteriorate.
Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge urged Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to postpone the discussion to the next day to allow for more meaningful debate. “You are scared of the government… You should protect us,” Kharge said.
Chairman Dhankhar responded sharply, saying, “The farmer of India and his son is not scared of anyone.”
TMC’s Derek O’Brien also slammed the government for pushing the resolution at such an odd hour—3 AM—when few were awake to witness the debate. “Why couldn’t the government bring it on the first day of the session?” he asked. “They weren’t interested in discussing the Manipur issue. They only wanted to complete a formality.”
MP @derekobrienmp, 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 pic.twitter.com/RWXvnhjrqa
— AITC in Parliament (@AITC_Parliament) April 3, 2025
O’Brien alleged that a BJP MP originally allotted 50 minutes to speak was asked by two government floor managers to cut his speech short. “He ended his speech in just two minutes,” O’Brien said. “Why are we doing this in the dead of the night? At 3 AM? No TV channels to cover, no prime time debate. What are you trying to hide? Look Manipur in the eyes. Why are you scared?”
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In a scathing attack on the government, O’Brien also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming the PM had travelled nearly 3.8 lakh kilometres in the 22 months since violence erupted in Manipur—roughly the distance between Earth and the Moon—yet never found the time to travel 2,400 km to Manipur.
“The state has been in the grip of prolonged violence affecting women, children, and every sphere of life. But the government is so arrogant it won’t even acknowledge there’s a problem,” he said.
Calling for empathy, he added, “Show some humility—only then will you understand the problem. When we visited the state, a local told us: ‘For every month this drags on, it’ll take a year to fix.’ Twenty-two months have passed. That means it could take 22 years to return to normalcy.”
O’Brien reminded the House of the harrowing image of two women being paraded naked in Manipur, a moment that gained international attention. “And you talk to us about women? We don’t even have a party in Manipur. No MLAs, no MPs. But we stand for Manipur.”
He ended his speech by quoting a line from The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy:
“When you hurt people, they love you less.”
He requested the Chairman to pass this message on to the Prime Minister, who was in Bangkok on an official visit.
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Responding later, Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed hope for a peaceful resolution to the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities. He informed the House that two rounds of dialogue had already taken place in Manipur, with a third planned for New Delhi.
#WATCH | Union Home Minister @AmitShah moves Resolution, “That this House approves the Proclamation issued by the President on February 13, 2025 under article 356(1) of the Constitution in relation to the State of Manipur.”#Manipur #RajyaSabha pic.twitter.com/HruzW96Yff
— DD News (@DDNewslive) April 3, 2025
Shah said the government had taken all necessary steps to restore normalcy. While acknowledging that 260 lives were lost in the ethnic strife, he emphasized that most of the casualties occurred during the first week of violence. He assured members that talks were ongoing with both communities.
He also criticized the opposition for politicizing the violence, pointing out that similar incidents occurred during Congress regimes, without any prime minister visiting the state.
“I don’t want to politicize this sensitive issue,” Shah said. “Yes, Derek O’Brien spoke of the abuse of women in Manipur, but both communities were involved. Sadly, many women suffered.”
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He drew a comparison with Sandeshkhali in West Bengal, where, according to Shah, hundreds of women were abused and the ruling TMC took no action.
“Nothing was done in West Bengal, and the person responsible belonged to your own party—you had to suspend him. We support neither wrong, but you can’t have double standards,” he concluded.
