‘We said Manipur, he thought Kareena Kapoor’: Pawan Khera takes a jibe at PM Modi; deletes it

Congress leader Pawan Khera took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who met the Kapoor family on the 100th birth anniversary of Raj Kapoor. In a post that has now been deleted, Khera said that PM Modi mistook their request to visit Manipur to understand meeting actor Kareena Kapoor. 

“Hum toh boley the Manipur, woh samajh baithe Kareena Kapoor (we said Manipur, he thought Kareena Kapoor),” said Khera. 

PM Modi, during the meeting with the Kapoor family, suggested they make a documentary on the showman, considered widely to be India’s greatest. He said that there is a lot of talk about “soft power” now in diplomatic circles but Raj Kapoor had established India’s soft power all over the world at a time when this phrase did not even exist.

"Can we do something, probably a film that captures Raj Kapoor's imprint on the hearts and minds of people of Central Asia... He had a big impact on their lives in Central Asia and I think we should resurrect it and connect it with the new generation. We should do something to link this and I think it is possible," PM Modi said.

A day after, Kareena Kapoor had posted that the Kapoor family was invited by PM Modi for the meet. "We are deeply humbled and honoured to have been invited by the Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, to commemorate the extraordinary life and legacy of our grandfather, the legendary Raj Kapoor,” she said, thanking the prime minister. 

The family also invited PM Modi to attend the Raj Kapoor Film Festival, organised by PVR INOX Limited and the Film Heritage Foundation from December 13 to 15. The festival would span 101 cinemas across 34 cities.

MANIPUR VIOLENCE

Khera’s now-deleted post came after the opposition parties continued to ask PM Modi to visit violence-hit Manipur. More than 250 people in Manipur have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.

The ethnic violence first broke out after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said that Manipur is in a humanitarian crisis but instead of finding a solution, the government is sending paramilitary forces and enforcing the AFSPA, which is adding to the violence. Gogoi said that the people of Manipur want to know when PM Modi would visit the state. "This government, in order to hide its failure in Manipur, is using George Soros as a shield," Gogoi said. 

Meanwhile, Manipur BJP accused Congress of having links with Kuki-Zo organisations. BJP general secretary K. Sharatkumar alleged, "The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council recently wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi urging them to introduce a Kuki Political Solution Bill to create a separate Union Territory for Kuki-Zo people,” adding that this is proof of the link between Congress and Kuki organisations.