NEW DELHI: His social media accounts suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is launching high-speed trains and rubbing shoulders with foreign leaders as a powerhouse on the global stage and the face of an ascendant India.
But that carefully crafted image, followed by millions, sits uncomfortably at odds with his silence on what’s come close to a civil war engulfing India’s northeastern state of Manipur.
For three months, the strongman leader has been absent on arguably the worst ethnic violence ever seen in the remote state, where Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party is in power. Modi’s role, or lack thereof, has sparked a no-confidence motion against him in Parliament, where his government holds the majority.
He will almost certainly defeat the effort this week. But proponents of the motion are betting that just bringing it up will force Modi to address the Manipur crisis from the floor of Parliament.
More than 150 people have died and over 50,000 displaced after ethnic clashes in Manipur erupted in early May.
The conflict was triggered by an affirmative action controversy in which Christian Kukis protested a demand by mostly Hindu Meiteis for a special status that would let them buy land in the hills populated by Kukis and other tribal groups and get a share of government jobs.
“I think everybody is very puzzled by the prime minister’s silence,” said Arati R. Jerath, an independent journalist and political commentator.
A harrowing video showing two women in Manipur being assaulted and groped went viral a few weeks ago, forcing Modi to condemn the specific attack even as he held back from addressing the overall conflict.
Modi is the first to showcase incidents or projects that reflect India’s rising prowess, but critics and analysts say he is often deliberately mute on controversies — such as the COVID-19 Delta surge across India, or acts of communal violence.
Last week, a railway police officer opened fire inside a train, killing a senior officer and three Muslims before hailing Modi, according to a purported video of the attack. Police are investigating the incident.
On the same day, five people died in a communal clash between Hindus and Muslims in a BJP-ruled state during a religious procession by a radical Hindu group.
“The prime minister believes that silence on these issues does not harm him. He believes that he is reaching out to the people of India through the work that his government is doing,” Jerath said. –Agencies
