'Even Vajpayee Made an Appeal in 2001': How Past PMs Handled Crisis in Northeast

At least three delegations of politicians from Manipur have failed to get an audience with PM Modi so far.

Manipur has been in the throes of ethnic violence for over a month and a half now. As of 21 June, the clashes have claimed more than 100 lives and have left over 35,000 people homeless.

(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)

Last week, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's appeal in 2001 when Manipur was in turmoil over issues relating to its territorial integrity.

"I express the grief of the people of the country and my personal grief at the loss of precious innocent lives in Manipur. As someone who is fully conscious of their sentiments, emotions, problems and grievances, I appeal to the people of Manipur to maintain peace and calm."

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

"It shall be the endeavour of my government to ascertain and understand the viewpoint of the people and redress them to the best of our ability through a democratic dialogue," Vajpayee had said.

Recalling this appeal from 22 years ago, Ra­mesh urged Modi, "Forget Congress, erase Jawaharlal Nehru's name from history, but remember at least the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) Prime Minister Vajpayee and break your silence."

As Manipur has been in the throes of ethnic violence for almost two months now, many, including Opposition leaders, civil society groups, and locals, have questioned Modi's "stoic silence over the issue."

What has brought his silence into sharper focus is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) recent appeal for peace.

As of 21 June, the clashes have claimed more than 100 lives and left over 35,000 people homeless.

According to The Telegraph, Modi has not even tweeted on Manipur or given time to a political delegation from the state so far. Nor did he refer to Manipur in his radio programme Mann Ki Baat on Sunday, 19 June, further strengthening the perception that he consciously avoids speaking on 'unpalatable' subjects even if they are burning national issues.

'Northeast India, Home to Tangle of Issues'

As a political analyst from Northeast India pointed out to The Quint, "The Northeast is home to a tangle of issues. It is where India's complex web of identities coalesces. And it is over here that the politics of identity and self-determination have led to internal and external security challenges."

Since India's Independence in 1947, long-running insurgencies have ravaged large parts of the area. It began with the Naga secessionist movement, climaxing in 1956, and was followed by similar movements in Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, and Tripura.

"The prospect of greater autonomy for one group stimulated similar demands from other groups. Much of the political discourse in the Northeast in the 1980s and 1990s was dominated by these secessionist movements. And the Northeast was sort of a headache for the incumbent prime minister."

Here's how some of the recent prime ministers have handled the crisis in the Northeast during their tenure.

The Nellie Massacre and Indira Gandhi

One of the worst episodes of these movements was the Nellie massacre.

On 18 February 1983, a huge mob of Tiwa, Koch, caste Hindu Assamese, and members of other local communities allegedly slaughtered more than 2,000 Muslim Bengalis in and around Nellie, a town in the central Assam district of Morigaon.

The trigger was said to be the Assembly elections in Assam called by the Centre, led by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, despite strong oppositions from the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and its allies.

These groups had been spearheading anti-foreigners agitation in Assam, demanding that “illegal immigrants” (Bangladeshis) be taken off the voter list as political parties, they claimed, were winning elections on the basis of illegal electoral rolls.

Yet, several Bengali Muslims voted in the elections on 14 February that year. The community had been living with the tag of 'foreigners' – and were targets of physical and psychological violence.

The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and President Zail Singh visited the refugee camps a couple of weeks later. As per a New York Times report, Gandhi said student-led opponents of state elections were responsible for the attacks.

The report further went on to add:

Asked if she and her government would accept moral responsibility for the killings, she replied angrily: "Why should we? It is the agitators who are responsible. They may not like the elections, but do they have the right to stop them?"

Asked if the killings would have occurred if the central government had not called the elections, Gandhi said the current violence was not the first in the area. "It has been happening here since 1980," she declared.

Dhiren A Sadokpam, a political commentator from Manipur, told The Quint, "Even though Indira Gandhi did not accept that her decision to hold elections may have triggered the incident, she did not remain quiet as Modi currently is."

In the aftermath of the massacre, a commission of inquiry was set up to investigate the incident. However, the report of the commission was never made public, and no one has been held accountable for the killings to this day.

Interestingly, Rajiv Gandhi helped rectify the legacy left behind by Indira Gandhi. His Mizo peace accord brought the Mizo National Front guerrillas to the electoral arena – and led its chief Pu Laldenga to replace a Congressman as the chief minister of Mizoram.

However, he applied a similar strategy to end the six-year-long Assam agitation against infiltrators, signing a peace accord with student agitators, but failed to bring lasting peace. The Bodo movement flared up soon and was mishandled, as per reports.

2012 Exodus from Bengaluru and Manmohan Singh's Appeal

In August 2012, thousands of people from the Northeast began to return home from Bengaluru after rumours that they would be singled out for an attack.

The exodus was triggered by widespread rumours that Muslims were seeking 'revenge violence' for Assam.

Assam had been witnessing clashes between members of the Bodo tribe and Muslims, which left more than 50 dead and 400,000 in displacement camps.

Those fleeing said they had heard that text messages were circulating which warned of attacks by Muslims, according to The Guardian. As per reports, more than 300,000 people fled the city.

Manmohan Singh, the then prime minister, stepped in and assured students and migrant workers alike that they were safe.

"What is at stake is the unity of our country. What is at stake is communal harmony," Singh said in the Parliament.

"I assure you ... that we will do our utmost to ensure that our friends and our children and our citizens from the northeast feel secure in any and every part of our country."

"The 2012 incident involved the life of many Northeasterners, including Manipuris, and took place in Bengaluru. Manmohan Singh could have left it all to the state government which was then ruled by the BJP and pinned all the blame on it. But he did none of it and made it a point to appeal for harmony and unity," said a Congress leader from Manipur.

Modi's 'Snub' Being Seen in Poor Taste

At least three delegations of politicians from Manipur (two from the ruling BJP and one from the state Congress) have failed to get an audience with Modi despite having camped in Delhi for some days now.

On 19 June, a total of 10 political parties in Manipur, including the Congress, wrote a letter to the PM seeking his intervention to resolve the ongoing ethnic violence.

The leaders said that they submitted the three-page memorandum to the Prime Minister's Office as they were unable to get an appointment to meet the PM before he left for the United States on Tuesday, 20 June.

Former Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said they did not come to "beg for anything."

"We feel as if we are of no worth. Our people are dying, our state is burning. But Modi does not have five minutes to spare for us," Singh said.

Accusing the PM of being apathetic towards Manipur, Singh told The Quint that though Manipur is a tiny state, the ongoing crisis is a big one, and hence, it should be treated as a national issue.

He blamed the trouble on the "BJP's politics and the state government's inability to handle it."

Moreover, the fact that the PM met Manoj Muntashir, the dialogue writer of Adipurush, for 45 minutes was not lost on the delegation.

Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said the attitude of the BJP towards the seniormost leaders of Manipur was reflected in the prime minister's decision to spare 45 minutes to meet Muntashir.

Another Congress leader in Manipur even told The Quint, "The PM has no time to address issues in Manipur that is facing its worst-ever crisis, but is busy promoting yoga in the US."