The ruling party fielding its MP Brij Bhushan Singh, an alleged molester, to weigh in on the indignity, rape and killing of Manipuri women that has come to light, is unparalleled in its audacity and insensitivity, even for a party that has a poor record in dealing with sexual violence against women.  

The prime minister’s silence on emotionally charged domestic issues is a habit: he has neither the humility to own up to his government’s misgovernance and lapses, nor the words that can be a salve when people suffer. Indeed, the greater the need and the expectation that he speaks up, the more stubborn is his silence. The only occasions when he becomes irrepressible is in the electoral arena, where, buoyed by the cult of personality and smart image management through a pliant media, he comes alive as a purveyor of fear of the Other and of ultra-nationalism, and as an attacking speaker, resorting to innuendo and lies, simplistic formulations and catchy slogans, and clannish and religious invocations.

This, of course, is in sharp contrast to his rather grandiloquent speech-making overseas, claiming India’s past greatness, and (his) authorship of a momentous future India that is powerful and a beacon to the world. He routinely professes humanistic values that his government purportedly fosters, even as it cynically abuses them.

His double-engine government in Manipur has flopped spectacularly, creating a security, ethnic and humanitarian crisis that is ugly and violent. The flop show has also created deep schisms amongst the people there. He has showed no urgency to visit the state or any inclination to speak to the people. When he finally did speak outside Parliament, prompted perhaps by the Supreme Court’s apparent willingness to intervene, he seemed angry, and couldn’t resist uncalled-for references to certain other states or summon any words of comfort, and extend a healing touch to the hurt and grieving Manipuris.

When the government is on a sticky wicket and questions of accountability become loud, Cabinet ministers and party luminaries, as if on cue, line up with their mischievous communal colouring, whataboutery, deflection and distractions, fed ably by an army of disinformation campaigners and trolls. Indeed, this pattern was on display these last 24-36 hours.

The party and its government at the Centre is expected to take the initiative and engage Parliament on Manipur, putting aside all other business for the day. That is, if it is sufficiently concerned and wants to take the nation into confidence, is willing to own up to its failures and seek cooperation and participation in ushering peace.

India’s store of goodwill overseas will stand eroded by the slow response, negligence and ineptitude shown, made worse by the pathological politicking and seeing every crisis through the electoral lens. The inability of the government and the ruling party to swiftly condemn the horrific bloodletting and the sexual violence over the last two months, and evolve a broad-based response that is genuinely humane with guarantees of life and dignity, suggests its complicity. On the back of the government’s questionable record in pursuing cases involving sexual violence, its expressions of outrage and condemnation seem insincere, and too little, too late.

I am not a Nehru scholar and quite likely that many who mock him today aren’t either. I am reminded of the time during the war with China in the early 1960s, when Nehru welcomed a debate in Parliament on the Chinese aggression and actively participated. He didn’t hide behind the veil of national security or other such reasons that may have been considered reasonable. There was his creeping authoritarian side too and people will reflexively draw attention to the muzzling of voices against his government’s handling of the war and the calls for him to resign. The point remains: debate in Parliament.

One hopes the government will not resort to technicalities, and instead seek the widest expression of members in Parliament. It is time the government realises that it is not ‘business as usual’ and debate its accountability to the people and Parliament. A good starting point might be an unreserved heartfelt apology to the people of Manipur, the women there who have endured much, and to the nation for their ham-handed handling of the situation. A humble prayer for a second chance could follow.

Image: CC BYReekado, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons