It was in good humour that Jug Suraiya pointed out that the old Indian call for ‘Angrezi Hatao’ has shockingly come true in London today. What he overheard in hotels, parks, bus stations and street corners were all the languages of the world except English. The city is crowded by international business representatives from every nation. Russian Oligarhs, Arab oil-garchs, and African dictators own flats, entire buildings, total enterprises, etc. 

Further, UK is ruled by Rishi Sunak who took his oath on the Bhagavad Gita, though he read the Bible during the King’s coronation. In short, in Shakespeare’s “sceptred isle” English sounds Greek, an unknown tongue, to large numbers. That explains the fervour with which the Brexit vote went through. Britishers asked themselves: Does this land belong to us anymore? Do we have a future? Do we belong? 

This was what Okram Ibobi Singh, the former Chief Minister of Manipur, asked when he was refused admission to meet Modi. ‘Do we belong? Doesn’t the Prime Minister have five minutes for people coming from Manipur? Are we beggars to be treated as though we are worth nothing? What about the 600 churches and shrines destroyed?’ Meantime, Modiji was busy preparing for his ‘Yoga’ display at the UN and ‘Mann ki Baath’ for the Joint Session of the US Congress. 

What Colin Gonzalves was pleading in the Supreme Court was for the very existence of tribals in Manipur.  However, the court turned down any interference, considering it a “law-and-order” issue to be handled by the state government. 

Promoters of Death

The consequence is what we see: An ideology given free play with threat to the very survival of the people of Manipur. According to informed persons, hundreds have died, others dying still. Relief camps running short of basic essentials. Enoch Powell warned against “rivers of blood” if inter-community relationships between immigrants and natives were not attended to in time in the British Isles. Though he was thrown out of power, social observers agree that his warning was relevant. The explosion of violence in London, Madrid, Paris, and recently in Vienna, confirms his fear. 

Serious efforts must be made in our times to build bridges between communities that differ greatly along lines of ethnicity, culture, or religion; and to strengthen bonds, and create a “sense of co-belonging”. This is urgently needed for our co-existence! Those who foster divisions plant seeds of death. When consequences come, we are all collective victims. 

A Prime Minister who had visited Manipur twelve times to listen to adulations of his personality is totally silent when an entire state is writhing in pain. In Delhi, 5520 civil society groups came together to ask Modi to break his silence on Manipur. But ‘mum Modi’ remained mum, as mums in Manipur screamed! On Yoga day, people in Manipur burnt effigies of Modi, Shah and Biren. Individuals were seen crushing their transistors when they heard Modi’s message on the benefits of Yoga for peace.  

No Use Trusting the Centre

Modiji’s maun-vow stands for the withdrawal of his boast that his government had brought lasting peace to insurgency-ridden North-Eastern region. Udhdhav Thackeray mocks, ‘Modi who wanted to stop the Ukraine war proves himself helpless before Manipur conflict.’

Monalisa Chankija affirms, let this drumbeat of peace achieved in the North-East be hushed for all time. Local people begin to understand that winning elections is the only concern of the Centre for the states, and that it is no use pinning hope on Delhi. People of Manipur and North-Eastern region are given a clear signal that they will have to sort out their differences and collaborate for the collective well-being of the region on their own. Mary Grace Zo expresses her fear lest an entire generation damage their future. Rajshree Keisham pleads that disputes be taken up in a spirit of dialogue.

To be let down by Delhi is a disaster, especially when the impression given is that their “Act East” policy is towards taking advantage of indigenous communities and their mineral resources: Guwahati airport goes to the Adanis, thousands of acres of Bodo and Karbi tribal land go to Patanjali, entire stretches of land along the Asian Highway are bought up by big business barons. For the indigenous communities it makes little difference whether they are outnumbered and their property appropriated by people who they perceive as “aliens”: ex-Bangladeshis, Hindi-belt devotees, Delhi Sultans, Rajasthani shop-keepers, or Gujarati Banias. 

These dominant groups, in turn, are assisted by 6000 units of the RSS in the North-East to plant “institutionalised hatred” among communities. They are supported by a “biased state”. So,  the Manipur tragedy may prove itself just the beginning. The CPM was forthright: the RSS built the Meiteis into a Hindu force against Christian Kukis. Violence was state-sponsored. And this ‘divisive politics’ has borne its fruit.  

While the united stand of 17 Opposition Parties was for the immediate removal of Biren Singh from Chief Ministership, Shah insisted on not acting in haste. How can he remove a loyal promoter of Hindutva interests in the North-East? 

Credit to Prime Minister

America was generous. When Modiji ended his speech at the Joint Session of the US Congress, he received 15 standing ovations, a 100 applause…a unique record. Biden felt proud of him and his country’s great culture that produced him. Among those who came to meet him were intellectuals, “thought leaders” economists, investors; persons specialized in science, space, higher education. 

It will be great indeed if India becomes a “global supply chain for critical and emerging technologies”: vaccines, clean energy technologies, infrastructure. The country is going to emerge as a defence partner with America, with GE 414 jet engines being produced here for military aircraft. Micron moves to Modi’s Gujarat with $2.75 billion to develop semiconductors. Modi calls for the “skill mapping” of the world, emphasizing the importance of technical education.  No wonder Elon Musk exclaims, “I am a fan of Modi…I am incredibly excited about the future of India”. 

No doubt, collaboration with America is going to be a great asset. A moderate Biden may moderate Modi. However, India does not easily forget how often America has dumped her allies once their professed purpose is served: Saddam Hussein or Pakistan, Vietnam or Afghanistan. India will be lionized as long as she suits the American market, which, based on ‘purchasing power’, has the third biggest GDP in the world today. A judicious bondedness with American democracy can help both parties concerned.

The Other Dimension

Unfortunately, Modiji’s imagination is most skilled for diverting attention from painful and humiliating situations, e.g. abrupt imposition of Covid restrictions during CAA protests, American trip during Manipur agony, etc. His trimming of welfare schemes is well-panned, near-cancelling of pro-poor programmes most creative! If his political smartness essentially consists in opening the doors of big fortunes to a favoured few and to his own commercial community, the unreflecting masses of today can change their tone tomorrow. 

Seventy members of the US Congress raised concerns about democratic backsliding in India, a few boycotted the entire Modi event. former President Barack Obama called for protection of Muslims. President Biden himself referred to the need to respect religious pluralism, equity under law, and diversity. Swaminathan Aiyar says: “40% of Americans said they had never heard of Modi. Of those who had, 37% were critical”. Only 23% viewed him positively. Moreover, don’t forget, in 2005 Modiji was refused US visa for his alleged responsibility for the 2002 Gujarat violence.

The Danger of Kashmirization

At the recent gathering of Opposition in leaders, former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti asked, “Why don’t you talk about Manipur where 200 have been killed?”  She went on to insist that Jammu-Kashmir is just a laboratory for the BJP. Today, the entire country stands in danger of ‘Kashmirisation’. In what sense can Modi pose as Vishwaguru except in showing the path to inflation and unemployment, she asked. 

Manipur has been pushed in the direction of Kashmir. The internet has gone dead. We do not know what is happening in these places. More spaces are likely to be blacked out if this strategy continues. “Manipurisation” can extend to the whole of the North-East. Any discontented group can be put against another over any issue, RSS prompting. 

In Odisha, it has been found that landholdings of tribals are steadily on the decrease and those of scheduled castes on the increase. North-Eastern tribal communities are concerned precisely about the loss of land. They may grow restless. The guardians of safety and security can give ‘shoot at sight’ order (the Yogi-Himanta formula) and send their forces hitting the weaker sections. Internet can be silenced. The rest of India will not know what is happening in the Eastern part of the country. Deception can follow deception.

Need for Consensus

A recent evaluation declared Vienna, the Capital of Austria, as the most ‘livable city’ in the world; Indian cities fall far behind: New Delhi 141, Mumbai 142, and Chennai 144. Do our leaders think of making our cities livable cities, our land a ‘livable land’? Why are our citizens fleeing in great numbers to the UK, the US, EU, Australia like Syrian refugees fleeing a civil war? Why are the better-off people moving out in bigger numbers to make themselves a comfortable home elsewhere in the world? Akhilesh Yadav says, BJP’s policy has driven 6500 millionaires out of India. Why didn’t Yogi’s offers prove attractive?  Modiji’s Atmanirbhar is so calculated to make them rich enough to take flight with their money. The nation is impoverished. A sense of co-belonging is absent.

The fact is that we are on the wrong track. Temples are coming up everywhere: e.g. the world’s biggest ‘Ramayan temple’ in Champaran district, Bihar, costing 500 crores; the Ayodhya one is reaching completion. Hindu holy men are maintained at state expense, pilgrimages sponsored, feasts financed. There is great political pride in religious celebrations, but no spiritual satisfaction. More of display than devotion, more of empty show than life-transforming spirituality. It is a mob festivity that at any time can turn against another religious group, burning a mosque or attacking a Christian prayer gathering, than collective sharing of brotherhood for human good. 

Religion must be defined as a spiritual energy for human benefit than competitive urge to humiliate each other. In the same way, governance must prove itself to be a unifying force for shared success than divisive skill to gain partisan prominence. Someone has said: For Kim Jong-un of North Korea, governance means sending missiles into the Pacific! For Hitler it meant military parades. For Xi it means issuing decrees, for Modi ordinances. For Gandhi or Nehru governance meant team-building, complementary roles, respecting differences, joint service, tapping the resources and competences of everyone. In the North-East there were leaders like Saikia and Gogoi who sought consensus, paying attention to different communities.   

We Belong Together

Now that RSS and Sangh Parivar called for peace after 45 days of conflict in Manipur, peace may come. Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun may take a softer stand, on being prompted. Exhausted by sheer fatigue the combatants may slow down their initiatives. However, as guns grow silent, cultural faultlines can deepen. Here is where a reminder to our mutual dependence and co-belongingness is important. 

The very mass migration we referred to tells us that people today are on the move to new places in search of opportunities and befriend new people continuously, that we are mutually dependent, and that we have to learn to live with people who differ from us. We need to put our past behind us. 

Conflicts will come and go; it is for us to shape our future together. Those who thrive on planting divisive thinking should withdraw for a while for deeper reflection. Leaders should learn to be sensitive to ethnic identities and cultural vibrations.

Scholars tell us that Buddha’s insight on peace was shaped by his experience of settling disputes between two tribes in conflict. Ashoka’s insights flowed from his repentance for having hurt weaker communities in Kalinga. 

People belonging to larger communities can shed their attitude of dominance and be helpful to smaller ethnic groups and weaker communities. Even the smallest community has a Unique Contribution to make, but it does so by acting in collaboration. 

Religious leaders and intellectuals have called for peace. Peace comes the moment we realize that ‘we co-belong’.