Biren Singh is the Modi of 2002

The nation must thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi not only for belatedly breaking his silence on Manipur but also for the language he used to condemn the parading of two Kuki women stripped naked in public there with one of them brutally gangraped Modi said his heart was filled with ldquoanger and sorrowrdquo at the barbaric act captured in a video that went viralHis remark is in sharp contrast to the regret he expressed in 2013 over the 2002 Gujarat riots If ldquosomeone else is driving a car and wersquore sitting behind even then if a puppy comes under the wheel will it be painful or not Of course it is If Irsquom a chief minister or not Irsquom a human being If something bad happens anywhere it is natural to be sadrdquo Modi told the Reuters news agencyModirsquos sensitivity seems to have deepened ever since he became the Prime Minister in 2014 But he had as the Gujarat Chief Minister provided a model of politics that other chief ministers could follow to enhance their popularity This model involves an elected leader demonising the minorities whether religious or ethnic and rallying the majority community behind himself or herselfThis is precisely the model Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has adopted In April a month before Manipur slipped into mayhem he told the Organiser the mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ldquoThe indigenous people of the state have been reduced to the status of secondclass citizens after the lsquoforeigner Kukirsquo immigrants took control of the social political and economic affairsrdquoSingh claimed that villages along Indiarsquos international border had seen a substantial rise in the Kuki population which he said was on account of militant Kuki outfits flush with black money generated through the drug trade facilitating the influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar into Manipur ldquoNo need of doing politics if we cannot protect our people from dyingrdquo Singh told the OrganiserIt would seem that to ldquoprotectrdquo his own people from ldquodyingrdquo Singh has let the Meiteis war against Kukis with the police idly watching killings and rapes being committed In Mayend he framed the violence as nothing more than his governmentrsquos ldquooperations against the terrorists who have been attacking civilians with sophisticated weaponsrdquo He projected the 40 who had been killed until then as terrorists Weeks later Singh blamed the ldquoforeign handrdquo read China for lighting the fire in ManipurSinghrsquos remarks echo the statements Modi made in 2002 which can be read in Manoj Mittarsquos The Fiction of FactFinding Modi amp Godhra On February 27 2002 when a train at Godhra was set ablaze Modi said the arson was a preplanned conspiracy involving terrorists triggering a reaction against Muslims In Gujarat then as in Manipur in 2023 the police allowed Hindu mobs to go berserkSoon Modi went on Doordarshan to appeal for peace but did not demonstrate the neutrality expected of a chief minister About the burning of the train he said ldquoThe culprits will get full punishment for their sinshellip We will set an example that nobody not even in his dreams thinks of committing a heinous crime like thisrdquo As for the violence against Muslims Modi said ldquoI can appreciate your Hindu sentiments But I appeal to you with folded hands we must maintain peace and selfrestraintrdquoIn an interview to Zee TV he blamed Ehsan Jafri the former MP who was hacked to death for sparking the Gulberg Society massacre The reason Jafri whose calls for help to the administration went unanswered had fired to disperse an armed mob about to break into the housing societyAt a rally months after the riots Modi advocated the closure of relief camps established for displaced Muslims thus ldquoShould we open child producing centresrdquo He was alluding to the unfounded belief that Indiarsquos developmental advantage is eroded because of the Muslim population growing at a higher rate than the national average ldquoWe are five and ours are 25rdquo he quipped sarcasticallyModi launched a diatribe against Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh for postponing the Gujarat Assembly Election highlighting his Christian identity by taking his full namemdashJames Michael Lyngdohmdashat election rallies At one meeting Modi said ldquoSome asked me is he Lyngdoh a relation of Sonia Gandhi I said perhaps they meet in ChurchrdquoModi wrote a letter in August 2003 to then President APJ Abdul Kalam claiming that the allegations of human rights violations were being raised by vested interests ldquoThey are identifying stray incidents and exaggerating them with the sole objective of slowing the pace of developmentrdquo Modi noted Sounds familiar doesnrsquot itThese examples from Modirsquos past explain why he cannot criticise or sack Singh for the latter is pursuing the model of politics the former invented 21 years agomdashand perfected it since then The Gujarat riots enabled Modi to capture the commanding heights of Indian politics Singh has already become a household name countrywide a rare achievement for chief ministers from the Northeast Letrsquos face it the blood of the minorities has increasingly become the fuel powering the rise of leadersThe writer is a senior journalistSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper