The question of whether the Home Minister convened a high-level meeting to review the situation in Manipur based on the public advice of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is incidental. What truly matters is that a week after his suggestion, Home Minister Amit Shah held the meeting — one notable for the conspicuous absence of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh. Shah’s promise that violence will not be tolerated and that efforts will be made to foster reconciliation between the Meiteis and the Kukis is welcome but not novel. Similar statements have been made before, with little tangible impact on the ground. It is a grave mistake to oversimplify the violence in Manipur as merely an ethnic conflict. The recent turmoil is the product of a deeper conspiracy aimed at consolidating political power.
The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that the chief minister, who allegedly commands both militias and the police, cannot travel freely within his own state, as evidenced by the deadly attack on his advance convoy. Social media are rife with images of gun-wielding militias obstructing even army vehicles, highlighting the complete breakdown of law and order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reluctance to visit Manipur since the outbreak of violence in May 2023 has not gone unnoticed, even within his own party. Bhagwat rightly pointed out that Manipur had enjoyed a decade of peace, making the current violence a stark indicator of governmental failure, both Central and state. The BJP’s electoral defeat in Manipur underscores this political mismanagement.
Amit Shah must address a critical question: Why is the chief minister — under whose regime 225 people have been killed, 50,000 displaced, and thousands of children deprived of education — still in office? In other states like Gujarat and Haryana, chief ministers have been removed for far less. The ongoing suffering in Manipur is not confined to a single community; it affects the entire state, underscoring the urgent need for decisive action against those who flout the law in the name of politics, religion, or ethnic identity. Restoring law and order in Manipur requires more than just promises and high-level meetings. It demands an immediate crackdown on all those who perpetuate violence. The guilty must be held accountable, and the state’s security apparatus must be empowered to operate without political interference. Only through decisive and impartial action can peace be restored, and the people of Manipur can hope for a return to normalcy.
