Editorial: Justice delayed... and denied

Seventy-five days after violence erupted in Manipur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has deigned to say a few words about the carnage going on in that state. It took the viral video of a horrendous act, a mob of hundreds parading two women captives naked, and then raping one of them, to break through Modi’s armour of silence.

While the PM’s retinue are reading a steely resolve into his remarks, the words seemed rehearsed and the anger summoned for a purpose. The anger comes more than two months after the occurrence and amounts to a backhanded admission that the PMO had no knowledge of the incident although it was reported by the media before the video surfaced this week.

It does little to reassure the women of this country that the PM adopted a paternal approach when he lamented what was done to the ‘daughters of Manipur’. They see it as a clear patriarchal dodge, a way to paper over a heinous injustice with a few avuncular words. The PM’s intervention, while welcome because it clearly is the only thing that galvanises his ministers into action, is not likely to calm the anger that is being felt across the country.

The impression that this government is unresponsive or indifferent to the needs of even-handed governance has been firmly established in the past nine years. It was evident when the government failed to respond to lynchings at multiple locations; when the Adani scandal rocked the country, and when decorated wrestlers accused MPs of sexual harassment. Brazenness after all, is the hallmark of this regime, a trait unique to it alone.

It was once said, famously, by an Indian Prime Minister that not taking a decision too is a decision. It was PV Narasimha Rao who elevated the practice of sphinx-like stoicism to a high art. However, momentous things happened in India under cover provided by Narasimha Rao. That regime stood by idly while vandals demolished the Babri masjid. On a positive note, landmark changes were effected to the economy under his silent gaze.

The Modi regime takes up on that principle of governance: Never appear to react to anything while making subterranean moves. Its chosen policy in all areas of governance is to never respond to events on the ground. However, it continues in its single-minded pursuit of turning India into a Hindu rashtra. The government responds with alacrity to an opportunity to move the polity in the direction of a majoritarian state, but it never employs this readiness when it comes to addressing challenges in day-to-day governance.

The powers that be seem to ferret out the history of the Sengol with great dispatch, but it makes no admission of the carnage in Manipur for many weeks together. But it vouches frantically on the need to enforce a Uniform Civil Code at the earliest. It reacts to fake videos on JNU but does not acknowledge rape by its own legislators.

What does this style of governance speak about the regime? It means the regime interprets its mandate differently from the people who gave it that mandate. It says we’ve been elected to rearrange the furniture of the state, not to rule for the people. It’s a regime elected by the people but at odds with the people. It’s a historic oddity in the life of our nation. It can only be resolved when the people speak up.