Unbreakable silence of PM Modi
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 23, 2024 -

HAVING personally experienced one of the most peaceful days during her stint as the Governor of Manipur, there is no doubt that former constitutional head Anusuiya Uikey would be deeply hurt by the prevailing unrest situation in the state and would be eager to see return of peace.

Similar to the general sentiment that Visit by Prime Minister Narendra, Modi to the strife-torn state might help restore normalcy, former Governor Anusuiya, too, Shared her opinion that Modi should reach out to the people.

Sadly, the Prime Minister seems unperturbed by or unconcerned with the raging violence, which has affected all sections of the population, as is evident from the then Governor disclosing in an interview that the PM showed no enthusiasm to her as well as civil societies' repeated requests to visit the troubled state at-least once.

Her pain and concern for those section of the population who are most vulnerable to fall victims to the on-gbing violence could also be gauged from Uikey's remark that "people of the state wanted the PM to visit and they kept making requests, which I kept sending to the PMO (Prime Minister's Office) but I don't know why he has not visited".

Galling upon the central leaderships to 'restore trust by the Centre' she also expressed deep hurt about the outbreak of fresh violence after few months of peace and emphasised that the "only solution to the violence is restoration of mutual trust among both communities and the central government should take steps to build that".

It might be irrelevant to the stoic silence by the Prime Minister, but public perception that those helming the affairs have not been doing enough to protect civilian lives in the on-going violence has been reflected in the Public Interest Litigation filed at the High Court of Manipur on November 18 and the latter seeking the stand of the BJP governments on steps taken in connection with the recent Jiribam incident.

The PIL could be construed as reflection of the public sentiment that the state and the central governments have been undermining public safety.

Notably, Narendra Modi has been one of the star campaigners for the BJP in every election and had even created a record of sort by addressing multiple rallies in a single day some years back with Manipur too regularly figuring in his tour itineraries during election time, with exception of the last Lok Sabha election conducted in 2023, amid the Kuki-Meetei conflict.

Though Manipur has only two parliamentarians representing over 30 ethnic communities, PM Modi had been joining election campaigns for the party's nominees in the tiny state and boosting morale of successive candidates by announcing projects for socio-economic wellbeing of the masses and declaring special packages, to name a few - all aimed at impressing the electorates.

However, after outbreak of the communal violence, PM Modi has been avoiding the state consequently resulting in the opposition parties led by the Congress raising posers over commitment of the Modi-headed coalition government at the centre in resolving the humanitarian crisis.

PM Modi might remain obstinate and be dismissive of the heartfelt plea by the former Governor, but the latter's expression about possible 'international conspiracy behind the trouble in Manipur from the Myanmar front' definitely merits introspection by the centre.