Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent tour of Mizoram and Manipur was presented as a statesmanlike effort to connect with the Northeast. In reality, it has exposed the stark contrast between symbolic gestures and genuine leadership. In Mizoram, Modi inaugurated the railway line from Sairang to Guwahati, including the Rajdhani Express service. The infrastructure boost is important, and his willingness to engage with the Lalduhoma-led Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) signals a tactical shift. Unlike the Mizo National Front, ZPM is neither an ally of the BJP nor Congress, making it a likely new partner for New Delhi. Yet, these optics of development and political outreach cannot mask the shadows cast by Modi’s visit in Manipur. For nearly two years( 2023 to 2025) , Manipur was devastated by ethnic conflict, leading to a civil-war scenario . Beginning in May 2023, violence triggered by land laws passed under the BJP-led Biren Singh government spiraled into massacres, arson,loot of more than 6000 numbers of sophisticated weapons such as LMGs, MMGs, AKs and huge quantity of ammunition from the Manipur Police armory. In addition, officially an estimated 300 were killed, however locals put the number far higher. Nearly 60,000 were uprooted- 40,000 Kukis and 20,000 Meiteis- and hundreds of churches especially belonging to Meitei believers were burned down, religious places desecrated, homes torched, and communities torn apart. And through it all, the Prime Minister remained conspicuously silent. When opposition leaders pressed Modi during the 2023 no-confidence motion, he spoke for only a few minutes, pointedly ignoring Manipur’s suffering. For two years, he chose to speak on trivial issues while never once acknowledging the horrors unfolding under his own party’s rule. Biren Singh, instead of being held accountable, was shielded. By refusing to dismiss Biren Singh and impose corrective measures when it mattered, the Modi government allowed Manipur to descend from governance failure into outright anarchy. When the violence peaked, BJP leaders deflected blame by calling it a conspiracy, while national media underplayed the bloodshed. Only in February 2025, after two years of chaos, was President’s Rule finally imposed. By then, the damage was irreversible. The process of rebuilding confidence on the government in Manipur has begun and it will take a long time before the pain and scars are healed. The unjustified and condemnable delay in preventing the madness in Manipur for two years cannot be erased by one belated visit. Modi’s call for warring groups to “choose peace” sounds hollow when his own inaction prolonged their misery. His failure to act decisively cost lives, destroyed trust in the constitution and governance, and allowed communal hatred to fester unchecked. For the people of Manipur, his words now ring not as comfort but as adding salt to injury. If the Prime Minister had intervened in 2023, dismissed Biren Singh, and shown the urgency that the crisis demanded, he would have stood taller in history. Instead, he turned away. What could have been leadership has been reduced to symbolism, what could have been healing has become political theatre. Modi’s belated visited though too little and too late, has given him a very slim opportunity to reassert his political leadership as a prime minister who makes good his promise and here he will have to part ways with the kind of divisive politics that has caused violence and bloodshed.
Tuesday, October 7, 2025