By Sushil Kutty
Police stopped Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Manipur and without being asked “what next for Manipur?” the disqualified Congress Member of Parliament said, “Manipur needs healing” – the panacea the violence-hit Manipuris have been yearning for months. Distraught people everywhere, across time zones and over the years who have lived through violence will commiserate, but not the powers that be in New Delhi.
There are always killers and victims on both sides. In Manipur, both the Kuki and Meitei are looking for healing. Also, succour, aid, a helping hand. Rahul Gandhi took his own sweet time coming to Manipur is the complaint, but what about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s post-2014 ‘Father of the Nation’, the man who can make a world of a difference to Manipuri lives, especially that of the hunted, who are desperately crying out for healing, but who have been left to fend for themselves by this ‘Pradhan Sevak’, who mouths ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ and then doesn’t make a “prayas”.
The question “Manipur, what next?” should have roiled the Prime Minister’s mind for months. Instead, he was everywhere including hobnobbing with the mummies in Egypt’s pyramids instead of doing “seva” in and around Imphal. Not that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a stranger to Manipur, but would the Prime Minister sit up and take notice if somebody mentioned “Churachandpur” to him? Latest reports suggest that Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh may resign. Even if he does so, will it facilitate the process of establishing truce between the feuding tribes. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was halted and sent back from Churachandpur. He has to take a chopper there owing to security reasons. The Prime Minister wouldn’t come, but the “Double-Engine ki Manipur Sarkar” of the BJP will order the police to stop Rahul Gandhi from lending an ear to people wracked by violence and extreme emotional distress, and do a bit of much-needed healing. What’s wrong with the Prime Minister, why is he avoiding Manipur like the plague; does he only like plaques with his name in gold on them?
“What next for Manipur?” should have plagued Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mind more than anything else in the last couple of months of continuous Manipur violence; more than the pleasure of gifting FLOTUS Jill Biden the “green diamond” and President Joe Biden the hug he never asked for. The dead and the living of Manipur will not forget and asking for forgiveness will be an insult that will not be tolerated.
“What next for Manipur?” For certain Manipuris will be to exact revenge; avenge the wrongs done to the people by those who should have done the right things but did not. Violence begets violence but revenge will come via the ballot box. If polarization is the key, then the job has been done and dusted with. “What next for Manipur?” will be answered in 2024, not just in Manipur, but across the entire northeast; people will vote their answers.
On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Delhi University on the varsity’s 100th anniversary and spoke of nostalgia, “gup-shupping with colleagues”; about “which film is in town” and “which OTT web series” was the best? Clearly, Manipur and “what next for Manipur?” was the last thing in the Pradhan Sevak’s cluttered mind. “What next for Manipur?” could wait; in any case, wasn’t colleague Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, taking care of that chore? You cannot have the Prime Minister with a “jhaddu” in his hand all the time?
Rahul Gandhi has no such compulsions. They say Rahul Gandhi’s ratings have gone up since the Bharat Jodo Yatra and his Manipur visit will double it. The panic in the Modi-Shah camp is why UCC has made its entry. How UCC will make a difference to the Meitei and Kuki will never be asked.
“What next for Manipur?” is a question left hanging for an answer in TV debates. But ask “what next for UCC?” and every anchor has the answer! The UCC is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “Pulwama” and “Balakote” for 2024. Will voters remember Manipur? What good have events in Manipur done for the BJP? Why was the Manipur violence allowed to fester unfettered? Isn’t it odd that communal conflagrations always follow Narendra Modi, even when he is nowhere near the disturbance. Also, there’s always the little matter of the missing “Raj Dharma” that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee mentioned to a visibly nervous Gujarat Chief Minister.
“What next for Manipur?” will depend on “what next for Narendra Modi, and what next for BJP?” Will Manipur be another factor in Modi’s careening career that looks like it is heading for a tumultuous climax? Prime Minister Narendra Modi somehow is always found wanting in situations when he should be in action. It happened in Gujarat 2002; and it happened when Shaheen Bagh and the three farm bills embroiled the nation for months on end. Paralysis of action is a rare illness but, sadly for Manipur’s violence-hit, it has taken up residence in 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. “What next for Manipur?” does not seem to resonate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (IPA Service)