The open apology Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh has tendered over the violence in the state that has claimed over 250 lives and rendered thousands homeless in the last one-and-a-half years is a welcome gesture, though it took a long time coming. “I really feel regret and would like to apologise to all natives,” Mr Singh said about the mayhem which started on May 3, 2023, and has now grown into a major law and order situation within the state with ramifications for the entire Northeast, and even across the border.
It is perfectly legitimate for the chief minister to seek the people’s forgiveness for what happened and call for making “a new beginning for a peaceful and prosperous Manipur”. The CM’s suggestion indeed offers a way forward for a state which, according to his own account, has “34-35 recognised tribes”. It is only if the people of various ethnicities and tribal backgrounds are willing to forget and forgive that they can move ahead and put this behind.
However, it cannot be a blind exercise. The state which runs on the constitutional principle of rule of law witnessed armed marauders going about villages and towns, killing, raping and looting people and setting fire to homes, educational institutions and places of worship. There was organised theft of arms and weapons stored in police stations, a very small share of which has returned to the authorities despite appeals from people including the Union home minister. They are still being used to perpetrate violence across the state.
The state has seen very little progress on the law and order front compared with what was prevailing in August 2023 when the Supreme Court of India called out the total failure of the law enforcement machinery in the state. Worse, the state machinery has been accused of siding with one section of the population so much that rival gangs have formed their own protection committees armed with weapons. And from the capital, the skirmishes have spread out to border areas now. Peace has become so fragile in the state that even the homes and convoys of the chief minister and his kin are at risk. Even members of the majority community took out protests in the state capital seeking an end to the mayhem.
Mr Singh and his mentors in the South Block must recognise the fact that he had presided over one of the most inefficient government machineries in the history of Independent India. The events that followed, step by step, an untenable judicial decision have created a schism that will take generations to bridge. The damage cannot be undone by just an apology statement. The process of reconciliation must start with an earnest attempt to deliver justice to the wronged and it must start with the departure of the chief minister whose abject failure to perform his duties precipitated the whole mess. Our democracy has enough institutions, agencies and precedents to go deep into the issues, come up with solutions and restore peace. But justice is the prerequisite for closure. Peace, like war, is also an ongoing process, and needs more than lip service by the culpable.
