Like the chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat said, the Opposition should not be considered as an adversary in a democracy and their views should also come to light. Mohan Bhagwat was referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s confrontationist attitude towards the Opposition. He also talked about Manipur as he said, the North eastern state has been awaiting "peace" for a year and that it is the "duty to prioritise it and take note of it". But the Prime Minister remained unmindful of the tragedy that is happening in the state, till he was rudely awakened by the new Inner Manipur MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam’s powerful midnight speech in the Lok Sabha.
Well, that speech has given a new direction and beginning of a new chapter in Manipur politics. But the BJP, both in the state and the centre, remains stuck in the past. The party had forgotten that they have been governing the country for more than 10 years in the Centre and nearly seven years in the state, as they keep falling back to the same old ‘past misdeeds’ of the Congress regime.
Like Narendra Modi, the state Chief Minister, N Biren Singh, is in no mood to take the Opposition in confidence as the state and people continue to suffer as a result of the crisis. He continues to berate the opposition for all the ills that are plaguing the state. He blames the Congress for allowing unrestricted access to illegal immigrants from across the border, signing the tripartite SoO agreement with the Kuki militants, allowing the Kukis to encroach forest lands and allowing new settlements, unrestricted poppy farming and drug smuggling and what not. He wants people to question why the then Congress government chose to be part of the SoO agreement, but never about why his government continued the same arrangement by agreeing to yearly extensions.
The question regarding allegations of BJP coming into an understanding with the Kuki militants during elections and the enabling environment created to enhance the number of Kuki MLAs in Manipur assembly were never answered. In the Tenth Manipur assembly, the ratio of hill MLAs were 11 Nagas and 9 Kukis. Since the 2017 elections, the ratio has been rearranged 10:10. Yet, nobody dares to discuss the ramifications that are being felt today with a change in the equation. Well, it is time for the powers that be to realise that they live in a glass house.
Only recently, the BJP government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh received a sharp rebuke from none other than the former Chief Minister and Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh for indulging in propaganda instead of performing the bounden duties of a government in power with regard to the turmoil in the state which had been going on for more than a year. Politics apart, Mr Ibobi has a point in reminding the Chief Minister of his responsibilities as head of the government.
The Congress managed to clinch both Lok Sabha seats in the state not because it is very popular among the general population, but more because of the negativity towards BJP in dealing with the crisis. Now, the whole state is earnestly praying for a kind of normalcy where the common people could lead at least a semblance of the normal life they once had, when internally displaced citizens could return to their original home and hearth and bury the hatchet for the sake of the future generation. Well, the present situation is not that rosy and conducive for peace efforts to work.
It is time for the ruling party to take into confidence the opposition to put up a common front towards finding a solution, and certainly not mud-slinging. An all-party meeting and efforts towards building a political consensus in the state had been missing since the one held on May 6 last year. The June 19, 2024 meeting which the government claimed to be an all-party meeting turned out to be otherwise as the opposition clarified that 10 opposition had called on the Chief Minister to discuss the crisis and it was not a meeting called by the government. Well, it is time to call a real all-party meeting to avoid worsening of the situation.
