Double engine derails in Manipur, PM must break his silence

During his latest Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has blasted the infamous Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government for the umpteenth time. In fact, the BJP does not spare any opportunity to have a dig at the Congress for the draconian suspension of democratic rights since it is always in an election mode. Fair enough. But that should not lead to diversion of the national attention from the major issues the nation is facing.

BJP has every right to criticise the emergency particularly during the anniversary month of June. But the nation knows that Indira Gandhi had herself publicly apologised for the excesses. As The New York Times had reported on Feb 6, 1977 that she apologised during an election rally in New Delhi. “We did not want to cause hardship to anyone,” she declared at a huge outdoor rally. “But no government would have tolerated the threats, the violence, the assault on democracy that we faced”, the NYT had said.

In March 2021, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi also described the Emergency imposed by his grandmother as a mistake. I am not trying to defend either the Emergency or the Congress, but making a point that there are many issues which concern the nation now other than what happened 50 years ago.

Take the case of Manipur which has been reeling under violence since May 3. More than a hundred people died in the ethnic violence and the Prime Minister has been silent on this (till last Sunday, at least). Remember, it is the BJP which rules the northeastern State. Critics would obviously ask what the double engine government is doing to bring back peace to the tiny state.

So much so, the RSS stepped in after more than 45 days and literally pulled up the Centre. RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has gone to the extent of describing the violence as painful and worrisome and rightly said that there is no place for violence and hatred in a democratic setup.

Home Minister Amit Shah visited Manipur but his efforts did not yield any peaceful solution as yet. The Prime Minister who talks of a dialogue between Russia and Ukraine to settle the war, also needs to impress upon the rival groups in Manipur as well to come to the table for talks. Had it been any non-BJP state, the entire party machinery, the pro-BJP media and the social media managers would have come down heavily on it. But the stoic silence on the Manipur violence is appalling, to say the least.

The Prime Minister takes pride in talking about his double engine doctrine in every election and the winning BJP governments too tom-tom it saying this is resulting in a “massive progress”. The double engine should not be limited to political rhetoric but must be applicable for the State and the nation’s all-round progress and peace.

Double engine should leave no room for divide-and-rule type of governance. In fact, we have been saying that the double engine principle itself is against the federal principles and that there should be only a single growth engine, that is Bharat. It is in this context that we say that the Centre-State differences on political lines or the atmosphere of hatred perpetuated by the majority sections is untenable.

We are witnessing the lack of progress and deterioration of socio-economic progress in strife-torn societies all across the world. Instead of learning lessons from them, we seem to either ignore or support by silencing the communal strife in the country. Tragically, both the Congress and the BJP accuse each other of following the divide-and-rule policy with neither of them talking about unity and progress.

In Manipur, the Hill-Valley divide is most evident in the administration of these two geographical entities, writes Dr Pushpita Das, a Research Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. During colonial times, the British deliberately introduced the ‘hill-valley divide’ by separating the administration of the hills from the plains.

Manipur is the most violence-prone state in the Northeast accounting for more than 50 per cent of the total incidents of violence in the region, Das says and points out that it is incumbent on all the communities to step back from their belligerent and rigid stands and work towards a compromise if Manipur wishes to experience sustainable peace and maintain its territorial integrity. In fact, it is the Meitei-dominated state government which should lead the way by agreeing to give greater autonomy to the hill tribes in administering their own affairs. The Kuki community, on their part, should reconsider their demand for separate state or an autonomous territorial council because such a council will not contain contiguous Kuki-Chin-Mizo inhabited areas, Das writes.

Meanwhile, a rally organised in Mumbai on last Saturday by various Manipuri organisations, expressed its angst against the PM’s silence and said he has not made any appeal for an agreement or reconciliation. Over 100 people have lost their lives and 60,000 people have been displaced, and are taking shelter in rehabilitation centres while reports of heavy firing are still pouring in every day. People are living in this warlike situation with multiple security forces, mob build-ups and clashes in many areas, speakers at the rally said.

“Manipuris being citizens of India, we should not be neglected. We all have the same rights as everyone else in India,” said fashion entrepreneur Robert Naorem. The government should restore peace. The state is under internet shutdown for over a month. Children are living without education. Prices of food and commodities have increased. People are suffering, Naorem said.

Ahead of the rally, Navi Mumbai-based activist Nareshchandra Singh tried to reach out to Kukis and Nagas through his social media handle but in vain.

Post the March 2023 election results, The Indian Express wrote that the BJP's poll planks for peace, development, stability - a stark contrast to the tumultuous 15-year Congress regime under the Okram Ibobi Singh, which was marked by bandhs, blockades and a sharp rise in extra-judicial killings - seem to have struck a chord with voters.

As I said earlier, the Centre and the State Government must act on the poll promise instead of appearing to be directionless.

Amit Shah proudly states that the BJP government has solved the Bodo militancy and Assam and Tripura crisis. As Manipuris ask why is the Centre not doing anything concrete despite the 45 days of violence which of late led to destruction of BJP leaders’ properties.

As regards the use of the Army to quell internal militancy, this cannot be a long-term strategy. A political solution is a must and the PM should break his silence. Questions will arise as he travels to the US and UN this week, though he may not address media conferences. External Affairs Minister S Jayashankar will have to do a lot of answering though he will dismiss these as “our internal issues” and “we are capable of handling them”.

Yes, India must find a solution to long standing ethnic strife. The Amrit Kal benefits should reach every state. I hope we are not asking too much from the Prime Minister.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based independent media veteran, running websites and a YouTube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging)