Opinion Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury writes: Modiji, listen to Manipur’s Mann ki Baat

All this was clearly evident during my visit to Manipur with my fellow parliamentarians of different political parties. We were united in our deep sense of pain and anguish. The suffering in relief camps, the stories of hate and distrust, and the pervasive despair made it clear that perhaps the first thing the people of Manipur want is that someone who can make a difference, someone from outside their state, should sit down and listen to them. Lend them a shoulder and hold their hand. That someone should be the Prime Minister of India who is doing just the opposite. He has chosen silence as policy. The louder the chorus for him to speak, the more defiant, it seems, he has become with his silence.

What is being forgotten is that of the estimated 1,650 km India-Myanmar border, 400 km are in Manipur, a long trail for drug trafficking and illegal infiltration because of the army-civilian conflict in Myanmar. China isn’t sitting idle either. Former army chief General M M Naravane has suggested as much — “Chinese aid to various insurgent groups” cannot be understated.

In Manipur, which means, “Land of Jewels,” the valley is inhabited mainly by the majority Meitei community (65 per cent) — this includes Vaishnavite Hindus, Muslims known as Pangals and Meitei Christians. The hills are home to several ethnic communities, the principal amongst which are the Kukis and the Nagas. Given the complex demographics and the consequent clash of interests and aspirations between these groups, the state has always had a delicate and balancing role in protecting all communities and ensuring that ethnic strife does not escalate into violence.

That’s why the question is: Why has the state this time shut its eyes or looked the other way or, as the evidence mounts, been complicit in hardening faultlines, knowing that the state’s patchwork of ethnicities has endured for decades, if not millennia?

As widely reported, the two key triggers of the current conflict involve the state government’s decision to evacuate villagers from K Songjang village in Churachandpur district, ostensibly for protecting forests; and the second, and more significant one, being the Manipur High Court’s recommendation for giving Scheduled Tribe status to the majority Meitei community. This meets the “long-standing legitimate demand” of Meiteis by giving them access to additional benefits but, clearly, puts the Kukis and other tribes in a “disadvantageous position”. What gets overshadowed in this debate is the fact that Kuki Hill areas in the region hold significant mineral resources, making them an attractive target for the corporate sector. Thus, the decision to designate Meiteis as tribals has ramifications that go far beyond identity.

Ironically, the horrific video of May 4 showing two Kuki women being stripped, paraded naked on the streets, slapped and sexually assaulted surfaced two months later, after our Prime Minister received the “Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour”, the highest award in France. The Prime Minister is right in calling the Manipur incident an “abhorrent stain on any civilised society”. Yet, what have these words translated to? Have they brought any comfort to a single person in Manipur?

Far from the healing touch, the state’s response has been the heaviest of hands. Resorting to curfews, internet shutdowns, heavy security presence and imposing shoot-at-sight orders have escalated the violence. The state’s controversial “war on drugs” campaign against the farming of poppy has only escalated tensions and led to accusations of selective targeting and encroachment when the fact is that those booked for alleged drug trafficking, illegal cultivation and trading in poppy, cut across social and geographical divides.

The responsibility for picking up the pieces, quelling the violence and ensuring the safety of Manipur’s citizens irrespective of their ethnicity or faith rests with the state and central governments. The BJP has made the “double-engine” a key part of its rhetoric and yet when both engines have derailed in Manipur, it doesn’t even blink an eye. The Supreme Court’s laudable intervention is indicative of the severity of the situation and the need for immediate action and resolution.

Modi ji, now a direct appeal. What will it take to break your silence? When the video surfaced, you spoke for a few minutes outside Parliament and you brought in other states, including West Bengal. I am from West Bengal, and I have spoken up against violence there, time and again, but let me tell you: Please go to Manipur and see for yourself why you are wrong when you frame the violence there in political terms.

Yes, silence is golden but yours on Manipur is crass and hollow. When we say please speak on Manipur, please don’t think this is just one of the countless demands of the political Opposition, this is what people in Manipur want you to do, they want you to tell them that you are there by their side. You are the nation’s Prime Minister, not the BJP’s. The people of Manipur, the women, men and children don’t need a political lecture on violence, they need their Prime Minister to stand by them in their darkest hour. Manipur’s mann is broken and is hurting, Manipur has a mann ki baat. It needs its Prime Minister to listen — and speak.

Because we, all of us in the House, want a united India. This is our pledge less than two weeks before Independence Day.

The writer is leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha