We sometimes wonder what has Manipur done to deserve such extraordinary neglect of the state and its people by the BJP leadership sitting in New Delhi. A deep-seated grudge seems to be in the works, as Manipur continues to reel under violence and total collapse of law and order in the last 18 months since clashes broke out on May 3, 2023.
After 15 years of Congress rule, Manipur opened the way for BJP to cobble together a coalition government with deserters and a few small parties. The 2017 assembly election results were such that people were disenchanted with the Congress, yet unwilling to completely handover the reins of the state to a party untested but slowly consolidating its hold over power in New Delhi. Yet, the people decided to give a majority to BJP in 2022 elections in the hopes of a new Manipur.
However, it resulted in arrogance and new heights of chamchagiri not seen before even during the Congress days. Instead of ushering in new development paradigms in the favourable atmosphere of a sympathetic government in New Delhi, it continued its Congress bashing in the second term also as the expected central largesse to tide over its financial crisis and economic downturn.
Manipur was a state ruled by BJP along with a few minor partners and the much touted ‘double-engine’ government was supposed to be at play. Well, something must have gone wrong in the alignment of the two engines as they seem not working in tandem. In such a situation, ethnic clashes broke out with a state government not strong enough to convince their central leadership to intervene in right earnest.
Now, Manipur is still reeling in a crisis which had taken hold of the state for more than one year and six months leaving more than 200 people dead, several injured and impaired, nearly 200 young people missing, more than 60 thousand people rendered homeless and languishing in relief camps and temporary shelter homes.
Homes have been razed to the ground with entire communities displaced, inter-state highways perennially blocked and communities denied from crossing over the unofficial line of control, villages in the fringe areas of the valley under constant threat of attacks with inability to work in the fields for more than a year. And hopes of peace remain a far cry as there is no let-up in the hate campaigns and divisive propaganda.
Thirdly, nature and extreme weather events came into play. An unprecedented hailstorm, an intensity never seen before, wreaked havoc to several houses in the valley and vegetable crops in the fields leading to widespread loss of investment and labour to farmers. Then, floods came in two waves inundating vast areas of the valley particularly in Imphal and havoc in the hill areas.
The Manipur floods were not as deadly and devastating like that of Assam, but it was of an unprecedented scale not known before or expected. River banks were breached and houses flooded up to the brim requiring major makeover after the floods receded. But Manipur’s flood damage did not find a mention in the Union budget. There were no special grants with regard to the widespread damage created by the ethnic crisis either. Certainly, Narendra Modi and BJP have a grudge with Manipur.
Yet, we do not see the local leadership of BJP complaining. Instead, they are hailing the central leadership particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. As the state remains divided by an imaginary line of control or buffer enforced by central forces, all hell is let loose by armed militia and militant groups both in the valley and the hills. No real or sincere effort at peace has been made so far by the Centre. Also, nothing has been done to bridge the political divide in BJP. Meanwhile, the central leadership continues to play the fiddle as Manipur burns.
