By Sushil Kutty
The Supreme Court is smart. On August 1, after nearly three months of Manipur burning, after killings running rampant, after untold atrocities committed on Manipuri women, the top court took the Manipur Police to task and called out the Centre and the state government for the “absolute breakdown of law & order in Manipur” wondering aloud why the Modi government stood mute spectator?
The Supreme Court might have asked itself the same question. For, but for the infamous video showing two Kuki women paraded naked in a Manipur street, the “milords” wouldn’t have reacted and acted. To be brutally honest, for some reason, maybe even paranormal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s lethargy had passed on to other not less powerful constitutional authorities.
The Supreme Court included. By the time the top court interrupted PM Modi’s sweet reveries of New York, Washington and Cairo, the death toll in Manipur had crossed 140. And, bet a dollar gets 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, if he dared step on Manipur soil again, would be the most unpopular man in all of the northeast. A malaria breakout would be more welcome.
In time, maybe someone will write ‘Love in the Time of Manipur’. But not now, when wounds from the video showing women paraded naked continue to fester. The video was shot two months earlier, in May and came to the Supreme Court’s attention only in July. It was almost as if SC justices don’t keep up with the news. Manipur caught the Supreme Court justices napping as it found Prime Minister Narendra Modi callously shirking responsibility.
It was like ‘Contagious’ had found its strange bedfellow. Of course, the Supreme Court cannot be faulted for the death and mayhem. The arson and the exodus. And let’s not invite comparison with the Kashmir of 1990. But Manipur 2023 is almost a replica. Coincidentally, the BJP was a stark presence at the Kashmiri Pandit Exodus 1990, too! Today, it is the Meitei Exodus 2023.
The Supreme Court has asked the Manipur DGP to come over from Imphal and explain. But what of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh? Shouldn’t he be the guest of the top court and read out the riot act? The fact is, barring maybe one or two, the majority of BJP Chief Ministers have been disastrous. Of course, Manipur’s Chief Minister N. Biren Singh takes the cake.
Along with Haryana Chief Minister Manoharlal Khattar, who joined his Manipur counterpart with the manner in which he is handling ‘Nuh’. Like what happened with Manipur, the Supreme Court hasn’t yet reacted to ‘Nuh’, where Khattar’s police failed miserably. The Supreme Court justices should know that Mewat (Nuh) is just next door and the bigg honchos of north India’s IT hub Gurugram are mighty nervous.
They live surrounded by ‘Nuh’ and ‘Nuh’ people are employed in their households. They are very close to the ’Nuh’ people. The fact is, the Nuh people, most of whom are of one community are the target. On Tuesday, August 1, like it happened in Manipur in May, there was “absolute breakdown of constitutional machinery” in Nuh .
Bottom-line, here was another BJP Chief Minister totally incapable and the Supreme Court will, maybe, summon the Haryana DGP someday two months from today. To cynics, and there are plenty around, Modi’s ‘Amrit Kaal’ is all ‘BS’. Especially when it comes to “law and order”. The heavily politicized Haryana Police did nothing the entire time the destruction and looting continued at the instigation of the hooligans of both communities.
For those who refuse to see what’s happening right in front of their eyes, and in Social Media posts, what they are witnessing is India disintegrating – helpless, hapless and, like the Supreme Court said, with law and order totally and absolutely breaking down. Imagine, in today’s India, not 40 km from the Supreme Court, with the fourth most powerful army in Delhi’s barracks, looting and burning are taking place and the police are helpless, and hapless! Both Manipur and Haryana are ruled by the BJP the party with a ‘ difference’(IPA Service)
The post After Manipur, Haryana Also Witnessing Gross Failure Of Law And Order first appeared on Latest India news, analysis and reports on IPA Newspack.
