No-trust motion that came a cropper

INDIA, the conglomeration of principal Opposition parties, moved a no-confidence motion against Narendra Modi’s government, fully knowing that it was bound to fail. The numbers in the Lok Sabha were stacked against INDIA. The alliance moved the motion, nevertheless, because it wanted to be heard, because it wanted Modi to speak on Manipur, where he was on a sticky wicket, and because it would be a test of unity and resolve for the disparate parties that constituted INDIA.

A no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha is meant to give an opportunity to the Opposition to highlight the govt’s sins of omission and commission.

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It failed on the first two counts. The debate in the Lower House was a damp squib. The debate never rose to any perceptible height the public could expect or appreciate. When Pandit Nehru, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Nath Pai or Indrajit Gupta spoke, we were invariably mesmerised. We do not expect the same standard of eloquence and clarity from our present brood of MPs, but we expect to be enlightened about the facts as each individual sees them and his or her solution to the problem that threatens the security of the country.

But except Gaurav Gogoi, who initiated the discussions on behalf of the combined Opposition, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who had come prepared, the speakers disappointed. Rahul Gandhi had just been reinstated to his rightful place as an MP. We looked forward to some fireworks from him. None were forthcoming. The much-awaited reply to the debate by the Prime Minster did not match his speeches at the numerous inaugurations he performs with assured frequency.

Rahul had a glorious chance to flay the government for its divisive hate politics, which is spreading fear, disunity and discord in the country. He failed miserably to highlight this one cardinal feature of our present polity. He had come unprepared, or so it appeared.

So, also, our Prime Minister. A ‘par excellence’ orator whom we listen to every day on TV, he failed to come up with any solution to the Manipur imbroglio. Instead, he talked about INDIA and berated the constituents of the Opposition ensemble. And, of course, he harped on the ‘dynasty’ and how it was incumbent on voters to bury the ‘dynasty’ for the nation to prosper!

It is a pity that parliamentary debates have been assigned a secondary role in the education of the country’s literate people. The PM’s Independence Day address or even the Mann Ki Baat discourses have proved more relevant. I suppose each politician at that level will know his strengths and will exploit them to acquire and then retain power. Our PM is a consummate orator when he faces an adoring crowd. In Parliament, there are opponents to contend with. That is not to his liking and his temperament. Nehru and Vajpayee were differently inclined. They were rooted in parliamentary democracy. That system concedes space to opponents and critics.

A no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha is meant to give an opportunity to the Opposition to highlight the government’s sins of omission and commission. The recent motion failed to do anything of the sort. It centred on the disturbances in Manipur and the inability of the state and Central governments to bring the riots under control since early May, when the violence erupted.

The Meiteis and the Kukis have been at loggerheads since colonial times. The Meiteis say that the Kukis are foreigners who have crossed over from Myanmar. The Kukis allege that the Meiteis have been eyeing their land in the hills, and that they lay claim on the tribal status to get access to land that can be vested only in tribals as per the law now prevailing.

The Meiteis accuse the Kukis of cultivating poppy in the hills — the fount of the illicit drug trade. The Kukis say that the drug trade is in the hands of powerful Meitei drug lords and it is they who provide the fillip to poppy cultivation.

The Kukis have always been the more aggressive of the two communities. They have a more martial streak coursing through their veins. Many of them find their feet in the armed forces of the country. The Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force trained and led by the Army but reporting to the Union Home Ministry, is made up mostly of tribals from the North-East. The Kukis are majorly represented in the Assam Rifles. Hence, the Meiteis distrust the Assam Rifles. The Manipur Government has asked the Centre to withdraw Assam Rifles units from its territory.

The porous borders Manipur has with Myanmar facilitate the illegal import of arms into Kuki hands. The Manipur police are accused of permitting the Meiteis to storm their armoury in Imphal and loot arms and ammunition without any resistance. The 6,000 looted firearms, along with ammunition, are now in the hands of Meitei hotheads. Efforts to recover these arms have been half-hearted at best. The arms are still floating around and will constitute a severe danger to the populace even after peace is finally restored.

Stray cases of violence continue to trouble Manipur. In the most recent round of hostilities, a Naga village was attacked. The Nagas had kept out of the Meitei-Kuki clashes since May. The Nagas, led by the Isak Muivah (IM) faction of the Naga rebels, had been demanding the merger of such villages into Nagaland. Successive Central governments have been negotiating with the IM leaders holed up in a European country. If the Nagas are also drawn into the present conflict, its dimensions will become extremely complicated.

All things considered, the Modi government is facing a potentially existential situation. The Chief Minister appointed by the central leadership has proved to be an unmitigated disaster. The only thing he succeeded in doing was to fan the embers of an old enmity between the Meiteis and the Kukis. Modi knows that it will not be easy to douse the fire — he has decided to wait. He is not going to change the CM for fear of losing Meitei votes in 2024!