Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an exception when he gave a formal interview to the Assam Tribune, during which he made numerous claims about his government’s achievements in the Northeast over the last 10 years. Nobody would begrudge him for his claims, as they would be taken with a pinch of salt, given that it is election time. However, one claim he made truly stunned the nation: he attributed peace in Manipur to the timely intervention of the Centre and the efforts made by the state. This claim was startling because nobody knows for sure what exactly the two governments did to restore peace. Modi elaborated by saying that Home Minister Amit Shah stayed there for five days and held 15 or more meetings with the stakeholders. True, he stayed there for so many days, but did it in any way reduce tension there? Were they able to implement any of the promises made while he was in Manipur?
Modi claimed that he visited the Northeast at least 70 times, more than all the visits made by successive prime ministers combined. This raises the question: why has he not visited Manipur since violence broke out there on May 3, 2023? The issue prompted the Opposition to bring forward a no-confidence motion against the government, providing an excellent opportunity to enumerate the steps he took to restore normalcy in Manipur. Far from that; he used the forum to lambast the Opposition, especially the Congress. True, there is some measure of peace in Manipur, but this peace is comparable to that in a graveyard.The whole world knows that at least 150 people were killed, properties worth hundreds of crores of rupees were destroyed, and over 55,000 people were displaced.
The capital, Imphal, has been cleansed of Kukis, and dozens of churches, schools, and other establishments have been destroyed. Has the government been able to compensate those who lost their loved ones, homes, and other properties, like the relatives of the Meitei woman who was mistakenly killed? Has even a single Kuki family been able to return to its ancestral place in the valley? What precisely has been done to restore the lives of the affected people? The Centre swung into action only when the video of two raped women being paraded naked emerged, that too at the prompting of the apex court. Otherwise, inaction has been the hallmark of the Centre’s response, while the state leadership remained complicit.
