Noted Indian historian and political commentator Ramachandra Guha has said that the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is a coward who is afraid to face parliament on the issue of violence in Manipur.
Ramachandra Guha in an interview with the noted Indian journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire, said as a Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is accountable to parliament and this pointed to “the failure of the prime minister at a time of grave national crisis”.
He said, “What’s happening in Manipur and the government’s failure to act, both at the state and central level, has damaged the Indian Republic and Indian democracy and the prospects of our country and its citizens.”
Guha said Modi is being shielded by Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, adding that they want to protect him, placate him and flatter him and not expose him to debate.”
He further maintained that in this regard “Om Birla and Jagdeep Dhankhar’s partisan conduct is shocking”. Jagdeep Dhankhar is Chairman of Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) and Om Birla is Speaker of Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament).
He pointed out that “Modi lives in a bubble of his own, hoping he can ride it out.” He said Modi would show “moral growth” and “redeem himself” and also provide “some sense of atonement” for his failure to contain the riots of 2002, when he was chief minister of Gujarat, if now he would sack Biren Singh as chief minister of Manipur.
He termed Manipur “a mixture of anarchy and civil war”. He spoke about how Manipur is different to earlier inter-communal conflicts in other states. He also compared what is happening in Manipur today with what happened in Gujarat in 2002. He also analyses why Manipur Chief Minister, Biren Singh, is still in office and provides three separate answers.—INP
