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Journalism of Courage
As the Opposition demands a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Manipur violence, the state BJP unit’s Twitter handle has also largely maintained silence over it. Since the clashes began between the Meitei and Kuki communities on May 3, the handle has posted 45 tweets. Out of these, less than one-third have been on the violence, the most serious the state has seen in a long time. Of the 13 posts concerning the violence it has put up too, 12 were on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state alone, and one a video message by Chief Minister N Biren Singh, on the day the violence started.
The rest of the 32 tweets are retweets of posts put up by the national BJP account.
Of these, 13 were critical of the Congress on various matters: its leader Rahul Gandhi and jibes at his use of the phrase “Mohabbat ki dukaan (the shop of love)”, and the party’s role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the Emergency.
The speech of Biren Singh shared by the Manipur BJP handle on May 3 urged the citizens of the state to maintain peace. Calling the incidents of violence that had broken out“unfortunate”, the CM said it was the result of “prevailing misconceptions” between two sections of society. He then appealed for peace saying different communities in the state have been co-existing.
On May 30, almost one month after the Manipur violence erupted, Amit Shah visited the conflict-torn state. Over the course of his four-day visit, the account shared pictures of the Union Home Minister meeting legislators, civil society groups from the Meitei and Kuki communities and security personnel to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile, the retweets about the Congress were continuous. One dated May 9 read, “Congress means corruption! From land to sky and from space to sea… ‘Congress Files’ is going to open again to expose the corruption of Congress! Season 2 is coming very soon!”
Ahead of the inauguration of the new Parliament building, the account retweeted Shah’s post on the Sengol installed in it. A tweet said, “Why does the Congress party hate Indian traditions and culture so much? A sacred Sengol was given to Pandit Nehru by a holy Saivite Mutt from Tamil Nadu to symbolize India’s freedom but it was banished to a museum as a ‘walking stick’.” Another read: “Now, Congress has heaped another shameful insult. The Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam, a holy Saivite Mutt, itself spoke about the importance of the Sengol at the time of India’s freedom. Congress is calling the Adheenam’s history as BOGUS! Congress needs to reflect on their behaviour.”
The Manipur BJP Twitter handle has not put out any posts on the second wave of violence raging in Manipur since May 28, primarily in the form of arson and shootings in border areas between the Kuki-dominated hills and the Meitei-dominated valley, apart from attacks and attempted attacks on residences and official quarters of elected representatives.
On June 12, it retweeted a BJP account post accusing the Congress of denial of gender justice after the Shah Bano case of 1985. “Minority Ki Mohabbat! Denial of gender justice and equality to Muslim women and the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984 form the chapters registered in the account of Congress’ ‘Mohabbat’!” it said.
On June 16, it retweeted: “BJP is launching a series on atrocities inflicted on Satyagrahis, who were opposing Emergency and Indira Gandhi’s tyranny. These have been chronicled in a book titled ‘Torture of Political Prisoners in India’ ironically kept in the NMML. We would like to hear your stories too. Write to @BJP4India with hashtag #EmergencyExcess. Never forgive, never forget.”
On June 21, nine Meitei MLAs – eight from the BJP and an Independent supporting the Manipur government – submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister’s Office, highlighting that the “public have lost complete faith in the present state government”. The state unit Twitter handle didn’t record this, nor has it posted anything on the all-party meeting called by Amit Shah on June 24 over the Manipur violence, its first such outreach across the ranks in 50 days of killings and arson.
Asked about the Manipur BJP’s “silence” on the matter, even as it comments on other issues, its state unit chief Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi told The Indian Express: “Amit Shahji has spoken about the matter, is guiding us. We are working very hard to bring peace. We need to talk to both communities, that is the solution…We need to sit together.”
The Twitter handle of the Manipur Congress has been attacking the PM’s “silence” on the issue. Its last post, on June 21, was on Sonia Gandhi’s statement appealing for peace and regretting the tragedy unfolding in the state.
