The withdrawal of support by the National People’s Party (NPP) may not pose an immediate threat to the Biren Singh-led BJP government in Manipur — in the 60-member Assembly, the party has 37 MLAs of its own. However, the Centre, which has failed to intervene in any ameliorative or meaningful way in Manipur’s terrible and continuing crisis, must recognise the writing on the wall. The sobering words of the NPP chief and Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma, must jolt the Narendra Modi government’s 19-month-long do-nothingness. It must begin by recognising that it is not only about political arithmetic. Sangma told this newspaper, “Decisions were not taken at the right time and the situation became worse… People are dying and it’s sad to see them suffer… you could have done things differently, like a change of guard”. Having stonewalled demands for a leadership change in Manipur, the Centre and the BJP top brass would be adding to their list of abdications in Manipur if they choose not to heed their ally’s message. “People need to have confidence in the system and the government… Somehow people are not confident or comfortable”, Sangma said.
Even as Manipur’s ethnic strife has escalated in the past 10 days, the Biren Singh government has conspicuously failed to break from the ineffective methods that it has used since May last year. It has learnt few lessons. The vicious insider-outsider rhetoric continues, internet bans are back and the army and police still do not see eye-to-eye. Primarily, both the Centre and the Biren Singh government continue to treat the crisis as a law and order problem. In a Rajya Sabha speech in July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did underline the necessity to “go beyond politics and bring peace and stability” to the state. However, those words have remained — words. Building consensus takes time and more importantly, the honesty and the pragmatism to acknowledge mistakes. It also requires sustained engagement by the Union cabinet — not just fleeting visits by ministers.
