Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a fervent plea to the people of Manipur to choose the “path of peace.” The visit is the prime minister’s first to the strife-torn northeast Indian state since ethnic violence erupted there in May 2023.
Modi began the tour with an address to a large gathering of people in Churachandpur, which is a stronghold of the Kuki-Zo communities. His speech underlined the need for harmony and the government’s efforts to promote dialogue, respect, and mutual understanding among the diverse communities inhabiting the troubled state. He laid the foundation stone for multiple development projects worth over 73 billion rupees ($828 million approximately) in Churachandpur district.
During his previous visit to Manipur in 2022, Modi had inaugurated 13 development projects and laid the foundation of nine more in diverse sectors such as highways, health, skill development, drinking water supply, and information technology. His address in Churachandpur was the second by a prime minister after Rajiv Gandhi’s in 1988.
Yet in between Modi’s two visits, at least 260 people have been killed and more than 60,000 have lost their homes in the ethnic conflict between Manipur’s Meitei majority and Kuki-Zo communities. Modi’s absence from Manipur during the violence had come under severe criticism from civil society organizations and was a major point of attack for opposition parties. Four months after riots engulfed the state, the Congress moved a no-confidence motion in Parliament, focusing on the Manipur issue.
The crisis also compelled Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to resign in February. The state has since been placed under President’s Rule and is ruled directly from New Delhi.
The undercurrents of public anger with the BJP’s mishandling of the conflict in Manipur became apparent when miscreants demolished decorative structures installed along the road to welcome the prime minister in Churachandpur two days ahead of his visit. Gangs of men armed with sticks were reported to have engaged in vandalism at two places near the helipad.
Peace in Manipur is essential as the border state plays a major role in India’s Act East policy and is a key link for forging connectivity with Southeast Asia. The trilateral highway through Myanmar, which is currently stalled owing to armed conflict in the neighboring country, passes through Manipur. Plans have also been firmed up to extend the rail network from Manipur’s capital, Imphal, to the border town of Moreh.
While addressing a gathering at the historic Kangla Fort in Imphal, Modi announced the government’s plan to construct 7,000 new homes for families displaced by the conflict. He inaugurated 17 projects worth over 12 billion rupees ($136 million approximately), including the civil secretariat, new police headquarters in Mantripukhri, Manipur Infotech Development Project, four Ima (mothers) markets in Tengnoupal, Noney, Pallel, and Moirang, as well as Manipur Bhavans in Delhi and Kolkata.
Modi’s visit to Manipur was part of a three-day tour of five states, including Mizoram, Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar. He will inaugurate and lay foundation stones of projects aimed at boosting infrastructure in the country’s eastern and northeastern regions. Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar will vote in assembly polls within seven months, and the BJP is a strong contender in these states.
After Manipur, Modi landed in the neighboring state of Assam on a two-day visit where he participated in the celebrations for the 100th birth anniversary of cultural icon, Dr Bhupen Hazarika, in the state capital, Guwahati. He released a commemorative coin of 100 rupees to honor the legendary singer, and a biography of the maestro titled “Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika.”
In Mangaldoi and Numaligarh, Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of development projects, including the Assam Bioethanol Plant and Polypropylene Plant at the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), aimed at promoting clean energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
While addressing a rally in Mangaldoi, he reiterated the plan to launch a mission to prevent what he termed as a conspiracy to “alter the demography” of the border areas of the country with the help of infiltrators. Modi had referred to this in his Independence Day speech delivered in Delhi on August 15.
Modi’s reference to the changing demography assumes importance in Assam, given the changing population pattern in the state. Muslims comprised 34 percent of the state’s population as per the last census in 2011, and there is growing apprehension among a large section of people that with the likely rise in the number of Muslims, the indigenous communities would soon be reduced to a minority.
Modi accused the opposition Congress of facilitating infiltration and encroachment of land belonging to farmers, tribals, and places of worship.