RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has raised very relevant questions on Manipur violence.

Many times such situations arise in international diplomacy that even if a country wants to, it cannot publicly disclose all those things which are very important for the citizens of that particular country as well as the whole world to know.

On the issue of ongoing tensions with Canada, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement that India was concerned about the continuous interference of Canadian employees, India has not made much public on this issue and according to him, more things will come out with time. Will come and people will understand what kind of discomfort India was facing. He said that relations between India and Canada are going through a very difficult phase at the moment but he wanted to tell that India has problems with some parts of Canadian politics and policies. It is clearly understood that Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has hidden much more than what he has revealed amid the ongoing dispute with Canada and it is a requirement of international diplomacy that many things are not said openly, but only in gestures. It is said or conveyed through action.

A similar issue is also visible in the ongoing violence in Manipur. The government may not be able to say much openly on various aspects related to the Manipur violence, but Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat has exposed the truth of the ongoing violence in Manipur.

Whatever RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said in his speech in Nagpur on the occasion of Vijayadashami on Tuesday regarding Manipur violence, every sentence of it seems to be telling that India’s growing credibility and global reputation is being tarnished. How despite having a strong government at the Centre, Manipur was thrown into the fire of violence and conspiracies are still being hatched to promote violence in this state.

Raising many serious questions, Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat asked, if we look at the current situation of Manipur, it comes to mind that how did this fire of mutual disunity suddenly break out in Manipur which had been peaceful for almost a decade? Were there extremists from across the border also among those who committed violence? Why and by whom was there an attempt to give a communal form to this mutual conflict between the Manipuri Meitei community and the Kuki community, who were apprehensive about the future of their existence? Who has a vested interest in trying to drag an organization like Sangh, which has been engaged in serving everyone with equal vision for years, into this without any reason? Which foreign powers may be interested in taking advantage of such unrest and instability in Manipur, located between Nagabhoomi and Mizoram in this border area? Does the geopolitics of Southeast Asia also play a role in the traditions that led to these events? Despite a strong government in the country, on whose strength this violence has continued unabated for so many days? Why did this violence break out and continue even though there was a state government that wanted to maintain the peace that had been going on for the last 9 years? In today’s situation, when people on both sides of the conflict are seeking peace, what are the forces that can incite hatred and violence by causing an accident as soon as any positive step is seen being taken in that direction?

By raising questions about the geopolitics of South East Asia and the role of cross-border extremists in the violence, the Sangh chief has given a big indication as to how big forces are responsible for the Manipur violence.

In such a situation, perhaps now is the right time for the government to give a befitting reply to the foreign powers and the domestic organizations supporting them in the same blunt manner in which action is being taken against Canada. Let it be given.

-Santosh Pathak

(The author is a senior journalist and columnist.)