The guy from Jiribam sitting next to the smooth-talking minister looked smug but serious, entirely different from the relaxed mood in the lawns of Rashtrapati Bhavan, even as violence erupted in his home constituency. He also looked uncomfortable sitting as a sidekick when Minister Govindas Konthoujam addressed the media, in an umpteenth effort to justify the exclusion of Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the high-level security meeting convened by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself to discuss the Manipur situation.
Amid widespread condemnations here for not inviting the state Chief minister also holding the Home portfolio, the senior minister tried to clarify that the meeting was intended only for the executives and not for politicians and so CM Biren Singh was not invited. Quite interesting, coming from a very senior politician who once had the audacity to challenge O Ibobi Singh in his days in the Congress party. Had the statement been made by that guy from Jiribam or some small-time party official, people would have understood.
Poor guys, surviving on crumbs and sticking their necks out for those in power. But, someone like Govindas Konthoujam uttering such nonsense is unthinkable. He had years of experience as a minister under the former CM Okram Ibobi Singh and he was a CM aspirant of the BJP government. He had to contend with the post of Cabinet minister. But, he remained loyal to N Biren Singh’s leadership following the age-old dictum of ‘Ningthou semba yaorunu, Ningthou kanba yao’ hoping that someday the crown might pass on to him.
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With years of experience under his belt, it is unthinkable that he would not have understood the nature of powers and function of the chief minister and his ministers. The chief minister is the chief executive and head of government while the ministers also function as executives unlike the MLAs. Or maybe, he was asked to clarify like that and he suddenly became His Master's Voice. Maybe, it is because of this level of submissiveness that central leaders are ignoring Manipur and postponing a solution without considering the gravity of the situation.
First, they sent a Security Advisor and a DGP by unofficially invoking Article 355 of the Indian Constitution. Next, they took away the powers of the Chief Minister by stripping him of the post of Chairman of the Unified Command thereby losing command over security issues besides law and order decisions of the state.
After avoiding a resolute action for more than a year, the Home Minister called a security meeting on the Manipur situation and took briefings and viewpoints from security officials representing both state and central governments. Instead of protesting the exclusion of Manipur CM in the high level security meeting, state BJP chose to justify it while accusing the opposition of politicising the issue. All along Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chosen to ignore the Manipur situation while basking in foreign visits, engaged in electioneering.
Now, they have managed to form the government even with reduced numbers. Again, they are asking Manipur to wait till the Parliament session for Centre to apply their mind in resolving the crisis. It is quite humiliating for the Manipuris. Who knows they might find another excuse to postpone the solution again? It is like waiting for Godot who never comes. The present Modi-led government is shaky and dependent on its partners. Still, the Modi followers including our own continue to sing paeans to the revered leader. One must say it is because of the servile nature of these self-serving leaders that their bosses in New Delhi have chosen to ignore Manipur, while the people suffer.
(The views expressed are personal)
