'How Dare You Keep Silent on the Manipur Violence, PM Modi? You Should Resign'

One of the Meitei community’s leading intellectuals, Binalakshmi Nepram, has criticised the prime minister for staying silent on the ongoing crisis in Manipur, calling the present situation “the darkest moment in the history of Manipur".

Karan Thapar, The Wire, 17 June 2023:  One of the Meitei community’s leading intellectuals has criticised the prime minister for staying silent on the ongoing crisis in Manipur, calling the present situation “the darkest moment in the history of Manipur”.

“We, the women of Manipur, are crying,” Binalakshmi Nepram, who is also the convenor of the Northeast India Women Initiative for Peace, told Karan Thapar in a 45-minute interview for The Wire.

“How dare you keep silent Mr. Prime Minister? How can you keep silent? The PM’s silence shows he’s complicit. Why is he silent as the leader of the world’s largest democracy? This doesn’t behove his position…take moral responsibility and resign yourself.”

In the interview, Nepram pointed out that it took “three days in Gujarat” to stop the riots in 2002. In contrast, the crisis in Manipur has continued for six weeks.

She recounted the tragedy suffered by her 14-year-old niece, when she accidentally stepped on a bomb intended for a Kuki while going for badminton practice. Her body was left in shreds.

She also talked about the threats her parents have faced, and how successive governments in India, since the time of independence, have misunderstood and mishandled, perhaps deliberately, not just Manipur but the whole North East.

She also mentioned that the Kuki and Meitei women, alongside women from other North Eastern communities, have come together to try and resolve the problem. They have given memorandums to the prime minister and the home minister, but have received no response yet. They have also sought meetings with them, but have not been granted one by either the prime minister or the home minister.

She added that the women are calling for a truth and reconciliation commission, a committee on reparation, relief and rehabilitation, and another committee on addressing grievances.

In a more pointed message to the Government of India, she said if they cannot restore order, then they should bring in the International Committee of the Red Cross, and even consider the United Nations Peacekeeping Troops.

She said that “the Government of India must meet the women leaders.” “They are 50% of the population. How can you not meet them?” she asked.

This is the second part of a special two-part series of interviews with the women of Manipur. The first part was published on June 14 with Mary Grace Zou, the convenor of the Kuki Women’s Forum.