No conflict in any state of this country has continued for over three months with no signs of abating. Manipur has been on the boil since May 3, yet the Prime Minister has not spoken a word in Parliament or outside it except to condemn the indignities meted out to the two Kuki-Zo women, one of whom was gangraped. In the past, Prime Ministers have made public appeals on television and other media calling for a halt to the ethnic clashes and an end to the violence. Prime Minister Modi has done neither. He actually is known to remain silent on crucial issues that embarrass his Party and Government. It has taken the combined Opposition to move a No-confidence against the NDA Government because of the Prime Minister’s continued absence from Parliament and his unwillingness to face questions. What is also troubling about Modi is his complete disdain for the media and his intentional avoidance of press conferences and to try and make up for that by his Mann Ki Baat where he says he addresses the people of the country directly. This is a big hoax because the people listening to Mann Ki Baat can hardly question the Prime Minister on major issues confronting the country. Inflation has hit the roof; people have been discussing the abnormally high price of tomatoes besides other essential commodities.
There has been a stout defence of the NDA Government and Prime Minister Modi in particular by members of the BJP in the Lok Sabha. Kiren Rijiju former Law Minister who had several run-ins with the judiciary during his tenure showered unending praises on Modi calling him the most sensitive Prime Minister insofar as the North East is concerned. He pointed out how central ministers have been asked to visit the North Eastern states and beyond the state capitals to feel the pulse of people and to see if the pace of development and the ministries concerned are having an impact on the lives of people. This no doubt is a positive development but if such is the Prime Minister’s concern for his Ashta Lakshmi then why the silence on Manipur? Why is he not concerned about the scale of displacement of Kuki-Zo people who are now unable to enter Imphal and whose children have had to seek admission into schools and colleges outside the state? Isn’t this the worst humanitarian crisis ever? So why is Modi hesitant to take action on a Chief Minister who is seen as overtly supporting extremist groups that have committed indescribable atrocities on the Kuki-Zo people by first terming them as ‘illegal immigrants?” These are questions that will reverberate in the hearts and minds of people of the North East for a long time.