Calling for resignation of the government for failure to keep peace or maintain law and order in Manipur is but a reflection of the public mood and distaste with the way things are being handled. The government and the powers that be should understand that the general population is really fed up with the lack of resolve and commitment on the part of the Chief Minister and his government besides his patrons in New Delhi with regard to the spiralling crisis in the state.
Eighteen months is a long time for any ethnic crisis to persist where communities are forcibly divided by imaginary buffers, movement on national and state highways for the warring communities prohibited besides the usual bandhs and blockades, sporadic incidence of violence intermixed with social media hype to keep the pot boiling, and armed militants or militias being given a free run to impose diktats or indulge in unhindered extortion.
On the security front, the state police force was divided on communal lines a few days after May 3 while central forces including security forces stood watch as the mayhem unfolded. As if they are not being given clear-cut orders by the powers in New Delhi, the central forces seem confused or rather act in ways they like or prefer leading to mixed feelings among the general population as to their loyalty.
On the political front, it should be Chief Minister N Biren’s responsibility to thrash out any political differences within the ruling coalition and chalk out strategies to usher in a sort of normalcy and amiable atmosphere in the state by taking into confidence all the stakeholders including the opposition and his detractors in and out of the ruling family. Instead, he paints it as a betrayal to the cause of Manipur and its indigenous folks particularly Meiteis to anyone who dare to challenge his leadership. When reports of 19 MLAs from within the ruling coalition writing to the Prime Minister got leaked in the media, they were dubbed betrayers and political opportunists.
Biren does not seem to understand that the alleged letter written by 19 MLAs to the Prime Minister is but a reflection of the public disenchantment and disappointment with the present government. He should not view it from the prism of political rivalry within the ruling coalition. Day in day out, the ruling MLAs had been facing public ire from their own constituents. There might come a time, when party discipline is thrown to the winds if the present situation lingers.
When some CSO calls for his resignation, it is not necessarily about him resigning and bowing out to another leader but also of the government led by him which had utterly failed in its bounden duty and mandate. It is time for BJP bigwigs to understand the writing on the wall in the wake of its humiliating defeat at the hands of the opposition in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
People voted for the opposition candidates not for the love of Congress, rather because of the indifference and lacklustre performance of the BJP-led government with regard to the crisis in the state. The people had spoken, but they continue to hang on. People are not happy with the way central leaders are handling the crisis, but N Biren does not seem to have any issue with Union Home Minister removing him from the Unified Command leadership or of an imaginary buffer between the valley and surrounding hills.
Everyone expects him to act as a Chief Minister who is also in charge of Home department, and not at the beck and call of central leaders. It is also the duty and responsibility of his party MLAs and those supporting him to remind him of his responsibility and prod him to act like a Chief Minister should. Enough is enough.
