Silence is not the better part of valour : Time for the MPs to speak
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 08 2023 -

The Congress has a point and it has been delivered. In asking the three MPs of Manipur to speak out on the ongoing crisis on the floor of Parliament, the oldest political party in the country has effectively delivered the statement that in the more than 180 days of ethnic violence here, the three MPs have preferred to stick by the whip of their respective political parties.

All the three should not forget that they represent Manipur first and other obligations, such as party affiliation etc should come lower down the ladder of precedence.

Unfortunate it is that this needs to be reminded to the three honourable MPs representing Manipur on the floor of Parliament. Two are BJP MPs while the other is from the Naga People’s Front.

Dr Lorho Pfoze may have his own political compulsion in preferring to toe the line of silence being the better part of valour at the moment, as the Nagas have so far maintained a neutral stand and are not at all involved in the ongoing clash.

However the honourable MP should not forget that he represents the Outer Parliamen- tary Constituency of Manipur and not only the Naga people.

The NPF, as a political party is also a partner in the BJP led Government at Imphal and this fact should be taken into consideration while giving a thought to his inexplicable silence over the ongoing ethnic clash.

This is about Dr Lorho Pfoze, but what about the other two honorables ?

Both from the BJP and both from the Meitei community, yet their continued silence rings louder than even the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A party whip may have been issued for the two not to raise the Manipur issue on the floor of Parliament, but it should not be forgotten that they represent Manipur.

Or is it a case of the saffron party so indifferent to the plight of Manipur that it even deems it better to silence its men on the issue inside Parliament ?

Difficult to see any logic behind such a move and more difficult it is to see the two MPs preferring to stick by the directives of the party rather than speak out for Manipur on the floor of Parliament.

As an Opposition party, the State Congress has done what is expected of them, but then again it should make its stand clear on where the AICC stands on the issue.

This is important if the oldest political party wants to ring out the right message to Manipur.

Parliament is one platform where the right and correct narratives can be laid down.

And it is on the basis of the right narratives that the honourable MPs can stress on the need to conduct a National Register of Citizens to weed out the illegal immigrants.

This will also fall perfectly in line with the December 7, 2023 directive of the Supreme Court to the Centre to file an affidavit on the number of illegal migrants detected after March 25, 1971 in the North Eastern States, the steps that are being taken up for border fencing, again in the North Eastern States etc.

Now is the time for the three honourable MPs of Manipur to lay down the case of what is right and what is wrong on the floor of Parliament.

Already over 180 days of mindless violence have passed, marked with the complete silence from the men sent to Parliament, and now is the time to break this conspiracy of silence.

And if at all the BJP leadership is under the impression that muting the three MPs in Parliament is the answer, then they just need to look back at the days since the evening of May 3.

To the people, the MPs were sent to Parliament to represent them whatever their party affiliations may be and if this trust is not paid back at this point of time, when Manipur is passing through her most critical phase, then are they living up to the tag of representatives of the people ?

The people must have drawn their own conclusions by now, but the MPs themselves should know the answer to this poser and silence is certainly not the better part of valour here.

It is far from that, it is a sign of sheer weakness and Manipur certainly deserves better.