The grand celebrations in New Delhi were a sight following the declaration of the results of the 2024 general elections. The NDA meeting was a mere formality as the selection of Narendra Modi to continue as the prime minister was unquestionable. At the meeting, the Constitution of India was prominently displayed at a place where the prime minister could walk in and conveniently bow and pay obeisance to the Constitution. This act of the prime minister was repeatedly shown on TV many times.

Prime Minister Modi also wrote on X: “Every moment of my life is dedicated to upholding the noble values enshrined in the Constitution of India, given to us by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. It is only due to the Constitution that a person like me, born into poverty and in a backward family, can serve the nation. Our Constitution gives crores of people hope, strength and dignity.”

Resurgence of violence

Ironically, simultaneous to the glitter, pomp and show in New Delhi, also attended by Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh, a curfew has been imposed in Manipur’s Jiribam district after violence sparked in the wake of the discovery of the mutilated body of a 59-year old Meiti man on a hillside in Mulargaon. The incident has triggered widespread panic and has reignited hostilities in Jiribam and nearby areas.  Several settlements belonging to the Kuki-Zo community in the district were set on retaliatory fire. Eyewitnesses reported a mob storming the Jiribam police station demanding the return of their licensed guns, which had been deposited during the election process (https://www.timesnownews.com/india/curfew-imposed-in-manipurs-jiribam-district-after-brutal-killing-sparks-violence-article-110797655).

A concurrent news report said 47 Manipur children, who have witnessed the horrors in Manipur and were unable to continue their education, have shifted to Kerala for further studies, with hopes to return once the violence ends (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/47-manipur-kids-find-new-home-hope-in-kerala/articleshow/110826743.cms).  

Now Angoncha Bimol Akojam, newly elected MP from Meitei-predominant Inner Manipur, has lashed out  at the deliberate lawlessness and communal violence induced in Manipur, with both the state government and the Centre abdicating their total responsibilities of governance in utter disregard of the Constitution, reducing Manipur to statelessness, with murders, rapes and killings having become the order of the day, and leaving the population to fend for themselves including managing their protection (https://www.youtube.com/live/Ppji5Bxf8nc?app=desktop&si=Hj2XTfxbLyGAdLSc). What he says must be listened to and reflected upon by all Indians.

Policy of drift

Dismissing what Akojam says just because he belongs to the opposition Congress party would be the height of idiocy and not in the interest of national security. That the Biren Singh government is defunct and both the Centre and the state are following a policy of drift has been reported many times earlier (https://www.southasiamonitor.org/spotlight/will-general-elections-ease-bloodshed-manipur).

Boosting India’s economy further and attending G7 and SCO meetings are fine but Prime Minister Narendra Modi must find time to visit Manipur and direct relevant ministers to stabilize the situation in Manipur at the earliest. Also, where the prime minister talked about India as “Hamara Parivar” (our family), why are we leaving Manipur out?

(The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views are personal)