Since May 3, 2023, the nation has watched as Manipur burns. Who set Manipur on fire? This question is baffling the minds of the people, and the nation wants to know. A deafening silence from a man who leads the nation and is otherwise known for his mesmerising and galvanising speeches and the mainstream media (barring a few) is a cause of grave concern. How many lives should be lost before they can hear the cry of the victims? How many people must be displaced before their hearts can feel the pain of the helpless? How many children must suffer and die before they are moved with pity? Who has the answer?
The double-engine Sarkar has betrayed the nation, and now, especially the people of Manipur. The BJP’s divisive politics are coming to the fore as they advance by sabotaging the Constitutional provisions of democratic dialogue, federalism, and the safeguarding of human rights. Characteristic of its modus operandi across the country. The BJP is once again exacerbating the age-old ethnic tensions between communities for its own political gain without care or concern for the suffering masses. It’s a deja-vu of the 2002 Gujarat riots, with the referee and the players being the same, only the location has shifted.
In the present scenario in Manipur, the worst of the violence against the Kukis has been perpetuated by armed Meitei majoritarian groups such as Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, accompanied by genocidal hate speech and supremacist displays of impunity. Arambai Tenggol is a revivalist group drawing Meiteis to return to Sanamahi traditions, and Meitei Leepun is a Hindu supremacist group. Both groups vilify the Kuki community as illegal outsiders and narco-terrorists. It’s good to revive our memories.
The whole civilised world was saddened not too long ago by the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The genocide was conceived by extremist elements of Rwanda’s majority Hutu population who planned to kill the minority Tutsi population and anyone who opposed those genocidal intentions. A hundred days of terror rained in Rwanda that shocked the whole world, with killing of over 8,00,000 civilians, and as many as 20,00,000 Rwandans fled the country during or immediately after the genocide. The scary ripples of human tragedy and horrifying echo of hatred can be heard even as the chief of Meitei Leepun, in a press interview, did not hesitate to state publicly that Kukis in areas disputed by Meiteis would be ‘wiped out’. The Manipur crisis is a creation of the BJP, which is trying to entrench its foothold in the state by using force and coercion. There was no reason for Meiteis to be included in the Schedule Tribe when they were already enjoying both political and economic power.
It appears that Goa could be their next target, as similar designs are being fashioned and experimented with. The Chief Minister of Goa audaciously made an inflammatory announcement that the traces of Portuguese history should be wiped out completely. It is laughable because the Chief Minister showed his ignorance and stupidity, but at the same time, it is frightening because it flows from communal ideology. Goans take pride in knowing that for the only time and for the longest time, Goa was the only place where east and west had a perfect marriage. The unique blend of western and eastern cultures was something to behold and appreciate. However, such a masterpiece does not resonate well with the narrow and lopsided vision of the RSS and BJP, which is a shame in the 21st century. It all emanates from the fear of the other and a lack of truth and wisdom, along with a vicious desire for power to subjugate and keep masses subservient. Ironically, the so-called Hindutva-wadis have conveniently embraced Portuguese culture. The only difficulty they have is the presence of churches and Christians. Wiping out Portuguese history means demolishing the churches and finishing the Christian minorities, as they are doing in Manipur. Therefore, the Christian MLAs who have sold their souls for Hindutva ideology cannot pretend to be an ally to both communities. By holding your silence, you are only helping to widen the chasm. Know it well: Who has the fire, and what is blowing in the air?
In 1984, India saw the massacre of the Sikh community when the Congress government remained complacent. The killing of Indira Gandhi by Sikh bodyguards evoked hatred towards the Sikh community and followed a grave human rights violation. The wounds of such violations are painful and intolerable, for they bespeak inhumanity and the dark side of Indian democracy. The 1986 Kashmir riots, also commonly referred to as the 1986 Anantnag riots, were a series of attacks targeting Kashmiri Hindus in the Kashmir region of the then Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in Anantnag district. They are a stark reminder of the painful history of our nation. How many more ethnic cleansings will have to happen before we learn to live in peace and harmony? How many more innocent people will have to be displaced before we learn to accept one another as part of our common humanity, sharing a common home called earth?
The earth is the common home for all to dwell peacefully. It is the nature of humans to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. It is unbecoming of humans when we hate and despise one another. It all emanates from faulty human nature, which is greedy for power and wealth. Otherwise, the intention of the Creator was that the way of life was to be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.
Who set Manipur on fire? The ruling dispensation loves to generate the bogey of swelling minority numbers as a threat to the majority, ‘Hindu khatre mein hai’, to fulfil their own selfish ambition. It is a myth created by the RSS and its political wing, the BJP, without any data to back-up its claim. According to a survey by the Pew Research Centre of a group of 30,000 adults in India, 99 percent of adult Hindus said that they had been Hindus since birth. Similarly, 97 percent of adult Muslims and 94 percent of adult Christians said that they have been Muslims and Christians, respectively, since birth. One also needs to consider the fact that voluntary conversion is not illegal in India. Besides, the rate of population growth has declined in all communities, including Muslims, as the same survey suggests. Therefore, those talking about ‘population explosion, ‘religious conversions’, and Hindu communities in danger’ have a preconceived notion. Accordingly, the nation has to rise up and realise the intent of the ruling party. How did over 6,000 highly sophisticated weapons get looted from government armouries and end up in the Meiteis community? Why is the government silent over this issue? The answer, my friends, is blowing in the air.
(Peter Fernandes is a Priest based at Pilar, Goa)