The truth about PM Modi's statesmanship
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: July 27, 2024 -

DENIAL of the appointment sought by a team of BJP MLAs from Manipur to have an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for finding solution to the over 14 months long ethnic crisis in the tiny northeastern Indian state and directing them to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah instead by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has not come as a surprise, and it shouldn't be to anyone.

In fact, this is the second time that the PMO has denied permission to meet the Prime Minister when elected representatives from the crisis-torn Manipur sought appointment.

Last year in September, a group of MLAs from Manipur belonging to BJP and its ally National People's Party (NPP) too had to return home dejected from the national capital, New Delhi when their request for an audience with the Prime Minister was not entertained even after camping for nearly a month.

At that time also, the PMO had given the same directive to the MLAs for meeting the Union Home Minister instead.

Consequently, some of the MLAs and ministers from Manipur did meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Guwahati when the latter came down for an official visit there.

How that meeting had helped or not in resolving the crisis in Manipur is there for all to see now with the conflict stretching on endlessly, body count piling up and the number of displaced homeless people increasing so much so that the government is finding difficulties in giving an updated casualty figure.

So, are the BJP MLAs going to meet the Union Home Minister this time again as directed by the PMO? It is doubtful.

And, even if they are enthusiastic about it, then the meeting is not likely to take place anytime soon, as the budget session or the 6th session of 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly is coming up from July 31 to August 12, with the schedules already announced.

For someone who has perfected the art of claiming credit for everything good only, justifiably or otherwise; the protracted crisis in Manipur has become such a tricky issue that it does not simply fit into the scheme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This explains why Narendra Modi has inexplicably chosen to distance himself from saying or doing anything substantial for putting out the fire of communal hate from spreading far and wide in Manipur since the ethnic crisis broke out on May 3 last year after people of Kuki-Chin communities clashed with the Meetei/Meitei over the latter's demand for recognition as Scheduled Tribe.

As the executive head of the country, the Prime Minister is expected to exercise his power and influence in trying to resolve any crisis taking place in any part of the country.

But contrary to this expectation, Narendra Modi has made'it a point to transfer the responsibility of handling the Manipur crisis to Union Home Minister Amit Shah right from the very beginning.

Even when the Opposition parties moved a no confidence motion against his government and forced him to speak in the Parliament on the Manipur crisis, all he did was to say that the Union Home Minister was keeping abreast with the development in the strife-torn state and had spoken in detail about the crisis before him.

In doing so, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost the opportunity of reconnecting with the suffering people of Manipur.

And now, by turning his back on his own party MLAs from Manipur, not once but twice; Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown that he is more careful about keeping up with his well-crafted image of a statesman who could stop the war between Russian and Ukraine to facilitate evacuation of the stranded Indian citizens, as claimed by his partymen, rather than exposing the true face of his statesmanship, which is of no use at all when it comes to resolving the Manipur crisis.