As the news and viral video of two women in Manipur being paraded naked by a large mob somewhere in Kangpokpi district spread like wildfire, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first ones who condemned the “shameful incident” and called for the safety of women. Even as the country of 1.4 billion people, and particularly those in the area of violence, welcomed the unexpected sympathy and concern shown by him, Modi’s statement on the tragic and barbaric incident rightly was too little, too late.
Since the violence ‘officially’ began on May 3, from political class to civil societies, from women groups including Meira Paibis to cultural leaders, people from all walks of life had been desperately pleading with the Prime Minister to at least speak, even if he didn’t have time to come to the state, on the violence. Regrettably, not only did he shy away from meeting people who came knocking on his door, he was travelling around the world, selling an imaginary cultural ethos of the country.
What’s more, his most trusted lieutenant, Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, who usually spends hundreds of hours to election rallies ‘and disparaging opposition at any opportune time kept visiting Karnataka even though he knew the election result wasn’t in his party’s favour, while already dozens of lives scattered to rot in streets and thousands of houses were razed to ashes.
Shah, of course, showed up exactly 27 days after the incident in Imphal and made a series of announcements including the end of violence in 15 days and enough security for all people, especially the warring parties in the current violence.
It’s been over 80 days now and as the sporadic clashes continue and many unwanted incidents unfold, one wonders whether the so-called communal violence (“war” in local languages) was actually ‘pre-planned’ by some vested interests to exploit the social fabric or something bigger.
The violence will certainly end one day but an expeditious and impartial investigation is requisite to unearth the root cause. For an end to the violence, extremist views and actions by the leading CSOs should be avoided. Sincerity and openness to discussion from both sides are a must.
