Huge tasks before Imphal : Get the PM to speak !
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 09 2023 -

The task before the Government is mammoth, no doubt, but it cannot shirk its responsibility.

The responsibility that comes with having 32 MLAs in the House of 60.

This is where it becomes extremely important for the Government not to lose sight of the task at hand and to prioritise the same.

The first obviously is to ensure that Manipur starts walking the path to normalcy.

How this is done is the tough part and it should be more than clear to Imphal that the first and most important task at hand is to get Prime Minister Narendra to speak on the issue.

Let the most important man in the BJP Government lead the way.

Delhi will need to crack the whip, if needed, to ask either side to come to the negotiating table and talk things over.

Muscle flexing and violence cannot take Manipur anywhere near the understanding of normalcy and this is where the Prime Minister will need to speak out.

The continued silence of the Prime Minister reflects nothing but a sort of indifference and this cannot be good for the saffron party in the long run.

Indifference in the face of over 180 killed, houses destroyed and levelled to ground, thousands displaced and taking shelter at the different relief centres set up across the length and breadth of the State is simply not acceptable and Imphal will need to do more than just sending SOS or going to Delhi to seek an audience with the PM.

Think out of the box to get the Prime Minister to open his mouth and take matters in his own hand to chalk out the way to normalcy.

Next on the list of priority of Imphal should be to see how the thousands of people displaced can be made to return safely to the place where their houses once stood.

Prioritise the issue at hand and see how to take things up step by step and see if the situation can improve.

Imphal will also need to demonstrate that there is a Government in place and it is not a free for all, where anyone who can flex muscles have come under the impression that their writs should run through.

The healing process will take time but this does not mean that the Government can afford to sleep over the matter.

This is where Imphal will need to use all the resources at its hand, think out of the box, take suggestions from the well intending personalities, who have been batting for peace from the day the violence erupted, and see what may be done.

This is not the time to remain insulated and certainly not the time to strike a haughty posture.

Reach out to the Opposition parties, particularly the Congress at the State level, and ensure that all speak the same political language in so far as the current crisis is concerned.

Granted Manipur will not be the same anymore but this should not mean that the place should continue to burn.

Imphal should show that there is a Government in place and is here to uphold the rule of law and this is where it becomes very important to ensure that the law applies to everyone and should not be seen as being enforced only at Imphal and the valley districts.

For over 6 months Manipur has been in flames and everyone knows who stand to gain from the continuing violence and who stand to lose.

This is a point which Manipur cannot afford to overlook.

Every course of action should be taken up with an eye on the future.

Where will Manipur stand after the violence blows over ?

Will the place and her people gain anything if the stand off is allowed to continue with no end in sight ?

The Government will need to do more than just urge or appeal to the people to help restore peace.

As noted earlier, it has to think out of the box and see how to make the Prime Minister respond.

In many ways the continued silence of the Prime Minister has not helped in any way to bring Manipur back to a state of normalcy and this is a point which Imphal should work on.

Will Imphal have the political gumption to point out that the silence of the Prime Minister has not helped matters at all and has only given room to the rabble rousers to rise ?