The Congress on Monday probably made the smallest demand any Prime Minister would have ever faced — Narendra Modi should appeal for peace and harmony in Manipur.
Expressing surprise and anguish over Modi’s silence despite mindless violence singeing Manipur for 44 days, the Congress put forth its demand — “break your silence”.
Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “We have heard 100 episodes of Mann Ki Baat. Let there be one Manipur Ki Baat. We plead with Modi to break his silence and appeal for peace and harmony.”
It’s exceptional that the Prime Minister has to be entreated in a mature democracy to utter two words — calm down. This, after unprecedented violence killed 119 and over 50,000 people have had to move to relief camps, thousands of weapons have been looted and the trust between the people and the administration completely brokendown.
Months ago, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot kept pleading with the Prime Minister to issue an appeal for peace and social harmony when communal tension soared in many parts of the country because of toxic speeches and threats issued from several so-called religious congregations. Gehlot fell silent after his pleas fell on deaf ears. All the chief minister wanted was a firm message from the Prime Minister that divisive rhetoric won’t be tolerated.
Senior Congress general secretary Mukul Wasnik, who was part of the delegation sent to Manipur by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, said: “If this type of situation doesn’t compel the Prime Minister to think that he should go and wipe the tears of the grieving people, when is the right time for Modi to visit the state? People are waiting for the Prime Minister. Bodies haven’t been cremated. What’s the Prime Minister waiting for?”
Dismayed by the Prime Minister’s apathy, Congress in-charge of Manipur, Bhakta Charan Das, said: “There is an atmosphere of distrust; people have lost faith in the (Manipur) chief minister and the home minister (Amit Shah). People are angry with the administration. The Prime Minister’s silence has caused anguish. The President is supposed to be a neutral person. She is tribal and a woman. Maybe people will listen to her. The President can visit Manipur and appeal for peace.”
Arguing that violence was still out of control and the shortage of food and other essential items had made life miserable in the state, Das said: “Modi has outsourced authority to (Assam chief minister) Himanta Biswa Sarma. But people are angry with him; he is seen as a party. People are talking about his role in the past. The situation hasn’t changed even after Amit Shah’s visit. He hasn’t demonstrated a democratic approach. He has failed. Why can’t a democratic initiative, like sending an all-party delegation, be made?”
Ramesh argued that Manipur was no more a partisan concern and had become a national crisis and hence the central government should have demonstrated sincerity about restoring peace. “A message should be sent out that the nation is concerned. We don’t want to discuss the reasons for this crisis at this stage; there is a background to this but we want to cooperate with the government in restoring normalcy. ThePrime Minister went to Balasore (the triple-train accident site) and today he is monitoring the cyclone situation in Gujarat. Why can’t he go to Manipur?”
Pointing out that the state continues to burn and NH-2 and NH-37 are still blocked with a serious crisis of unavailability of essential items, the Congress said none of the actions taken by the state government or the Union government has inspired confidence in the people of Manipur. They asked the government to immediately send an all-party delegation to the state to talk to the stakeholders and find a solution.
