Hunger and displacement due to the ongoing war in Sudan are spiralling out of control, the UN humanitarians warned. More than 6 million people in Sudan, about 13 per cent of the population, are now one step away from famine, Xinhua news agency quoted the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as saying. According to the office, over 20 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity across Sudan due to the violent conflict, economic decline and mass displacement.

More than 3,000 people have died and over 6,000 others injured in the bloody conflict, which the two warring sides — Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — have blamed each other for escalating it. According to UNICEF, at least 435 children have been reportedly killed and some 2,025 others injured. The UN agency has also claimed to have received reports of a staggering 2,500 severe violations of children’s rights, representing an average of at least one an hour since the violence erupted on April 15. To date, over 3.5 million people have been displaced inside and outside the country.

Nearly 2.7 million have been displaced internally as of 25 July, according to the International Organization for Migration. People have been displaced across all 18 states, the majority of whom are in River Nile, followed by Northern, White Nile, and Sennar states. About 73 per cent of the people displaced are originally from Khartoum. In addition, over 855,000 refugees, asylum seekers and returnees have crossed the border into neighbouring countries, including Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, according to the UN Refugee Agency. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that attacks on health care continue to be reported across the country. Since the violence began, the WHO has verified 53 such attacks resulting in 11 deaths and 38 injuries.

Leaders of several opposition parties on Monday staged a protest in the Parliament complex demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in the House on the Manipur issue. Holding placards and banners that read “INDIA for Manipur” and “INDIA demands PM’s statement on Manipur”, the opposition parties raised slogans against the government in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament complex.

Speaking to reporters, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said it is the prime minister’s duty to make a comprehensive statement in Parliament on Manipur violence. “It is shameful that the prime minister is making a statement outside the House when Parliament is in session. It is his duty to make a comprehensive statement inside Parliament on Manipur violence,” the Congress leader said.

It is shameful that the Prime Minister is making a statement outside the House, when Parliament is in session. It is his duty to make a comprehensive statement inside the Parliament on Manipur violence.

Therefore, we are requesting the Chairman of Rajya Sabha and the Speaker of… pic.twitter.com/oSvB3ZcD8u

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 24, 2023

“We are requesting the Chairman of Rajya Sabha and the Speaker of Lok Sabha that the PM should make a statement on the situation in Manipur. We want a discussion under Rule 167 but the Modi government wants a short duration discussion under Rule 176 for half an hour.We want under Rule 267 under which there can also be voting,” he said.

The prime minister should first make a statement and then we will have a discussion under Rule 267, he said The Modi government and the BJP cannot run away from its constitutional duty and answerability on Manipur, Kharge added.

The government has agreed to hold a short-duration discussion on the Manipur issue with the Home Minister replying to it, but the opposition is adamant on its demand for the prime minister’s statement first. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have failed to transact any business during the Monsoon Session amid the stalemate between the opposition and the government over the Manipur issue.