Opinion Tavleen Singh writes: Why is PM Modi finding it so hard to lead from the front in Manipur?

There are certainly historic reasons why Manipur has imploded in this way, but this is not a time for history but for dealing with what is happening today. Modi led from the front when that bridge broke in Morbi and when there was the train crash in Balasore. Why is he finding it so hard to lead from the front in Manipur?

tavleen singh writes on prime minister narendra modi's silence on the manipur violence

It is shameful that instead of leading from the front, Narendra Modi is allowing his minions and ministers to speak for him.

Tavleen Singh

July 30, 2023 09:50 PM IST First published on: Jul 30, 2023 at 06:46 AM IST

The Prime Minister made many speeches last week. He addressed an audience of India’s political and business elite at the inauguration of a new convention centre in Pragati Maidan. He told them that in his third term India’s economy would grow at dazzling speed. Hours later he was in Rajasthan demanding in sonorous tones that dynastic democracy, corruption, and appeasement politics ‘quit India’. Then it was environmental concerns he addressed at a G-20 meeting. The only place he did not speak was in Parliament and the only issue he did not address was the civil war in Manipur.

It is hard to understand why. Harder to understand why he does not see that his dogged refusal to speak about Manipur inside Parliament is harming his leadership because it is the newly minted INDIA leaders who have taken control of the narrative inside the House. And are off to Imphal to show empathy. Here I need to clarify that I found the black clothes protest absurd despite some exquisite saris wrapped around lady protesters. And the demand that a discussion on Manipur inside the House be led by the Prime Minister seemed more about politics than real concern. But there is no question that the opposition leaders have come across better than the BJP. The snide remarks about Rahul Gandhi by BJP leaders made them look stupid not him. Calling him ‘a child’ and blaming him for the ‘fire in Manipur’ made the Prime Minister’s senior comrades look sycophantic and immature.

The civil war in Manipur is the most serious challenge that Narendra Modi has faced in the past nine years and instead of showing leadership he has shown petulance. The only time he spoke was when that video of two Kuki women being sexually molested by a Meitei mob went viral. And then he chose to say that he condemned all violence against women. He specifically mentioned violence against women in states governed by opposition chief ministers clearly without noticing that there is a difference between ordinary crimes against women and crimes against women in a conflict zone. What has been done to women in Manipur count as war crimes in the eyes of the world and the world is watching.

Tragically in Manipur it is not just women who are victims of war crimes. A BJP legislator called Vungzagen Valte who may never live a normal life again, because of the brutality with which he was treated by a Meitei mob, has spent the past two months in Delhi rotting in a tiny, rented house without help from the BJP, his Chief Minister, or the Prime Minister. He has severe head injuries that make it impossible for him to walk, talk or feed himself and he is the most senior Kuki legislator. He was till the attack an advisor to the chief minister. If this could happen to him, it is frightening to imagine how ordinary people must have suffered.

Some of them have started speaking about what happened from the rudimentary refugee camps in which they live after having been forced out of their homes and villages. Last week they sat in protest in one of the camps and a placard they held up said ‘Modiji please help us’. Many victims make it a point to tell reporters that they have no faith left in Manipur’s BJP chief minister. It is beyond belief that these voices are now being heard across India, but they have so far not reached the ears of the Prime Minister.

Last week in this column I talked of the importance of leadership in a time like this and it saddens me to have to reiterate what I said. But I have no choice. How can I not say it again because to date, I have seen no leadership from the only man who can help normalcy return to Manipur. The Prime Minister. The very least he can do is speak in Parliament and explain why his ‘double-engine’ government in Manipur appears to be functioning without either of its engines. The vote of no-confidence that will happen in Parliament next week has been moved without hope that it will succeed but with the hope that the Prime Minister will be forced to speak.

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It is shameful that instead of leading from the front, Narendra Modi is allowing his minions and ministers to speak for him. Not one of them has said anything worth reporting because all they have done is repeat, ad nauseum, that the situation in Manipur is not as bad as it used to be. They have gone on and on about how much worse it was in ‘Congress times’ when many more people were killed, and much worse things happened.

They are so eager to please the Prime Minister with their ludicrous sycophancy they appear to have forgotten that ‘Congress times’ ended nearly a decade ago. There are certainly historic reasons why Manipur has imploded in this way, but this is not a time for history but for dealing with what is happening today. Modi led from the front when that bridge broke in Morbi and when there was the train crash in Balasore. Why is he finding it so hard to lead from the front in Manipur? His going to the state may not solve the problem but it will make the people of Manipur realise that he cares.