Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s display of affection towards United States President Joe Biden at the G20 Summit, Thalassery diocese archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany asked the PM to hold close to him the “sisters of Manipur who have been victim to brutal atrocities”, just like he did with Biden at the summit. 

“Narendra Modi should remember that he is not a minister of any one community,” bishop Pamplany said on Sunday, September 10. He was speaking at the conclusion of a 24-hour hunger strike against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government by Kasaragod Member of Parliament (MP) Rajmohan Unnithan.

Lauding Rahul Gandhi for his visits to conflict-ridden areas in Manipur, the bishop said the Congress leader’s efforts indicated that he stood in solidarity with minorities. “It is not enough to simply change the country’s name to Bharat,” he added.

Rajmohan had launched the satyagraha to register his protest against the Union government’s alleged attacks on the Constitution, including its recent proposal for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country. The MP also accused the Union government of fanning the ethnic violence in Manipur. Reports say that the hunger strike doubled as a platform for Rajmohan to launch his election campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

While inaugurating the strike on Saturday, Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal had also alleged that Modi was using the G20 summit for his own popularity. He also alleged that the BJP government started using ‘Bharat’ in official communication because it feared the Opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.).