It is not for no reason that leaders of the Opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A called on President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday to seek her intervention in resolving the crisis in Manipur. They went there with the first-hand information they gained when 21 MPs belonging to those parties visited the state. It is not an exaggeration when they say that they were shocked by what they saw in the state in which about 60,000 people have been pushed into relief camps or conditions of destitution. What’s worse, there has been no respite to the violence, although three months have passed since riots broke out on May 3. They are not asking for the moon. They are only asking her to exercise her constitutional responsibility to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution. No such responsibility devolves on the PM, who only has to act according to the dictates of the Constitution.
That is why the oath of office of the President of India is almost similar to that of the oath of the president of the USA. Parliament has been in a state of paralysis over the Manipur issue. It is a different matter that the government has been able to have some Bills passed without a modicum of debate. What the Opposition wants is a statement on the Manipur situation by the prime minister. No prime minister in the past had ever shied away from making a statement. The late Rajiv Gandhi tried to evade speaking on the Bofors scandal but eventually he complied with the sentiments of the people. Extraordinary things have been happening in Manipur, ruled by the BJP. Modi has a political, moral and constitutional responsibility to ensure that normalcy is restored there. In ordinary circumstances, he should have gone there and assessed the situation and taken remedial steps.
The people of Manipur, especially those who have lost their kith and kin and all their belongings, feel orphaned. They have every right to ask the government whether they are entitled to all the protections that the Constitution guarantees. The prime minister has the requisite mandate and power to restore peace in the state. For lesser and far more insignificant reasons, states have been brought under President’s rule or chief ministers have been changed. The government also has a responsibility to compensate the people for their losses. All this is within Modi’s powers. As for the President, she has to nudge him to do his duty.
