Amit Shah appeals...
And lo, peace will descend on Manipur
Yesterday, Shah reviewed the security situation in Manipur and directed the MHA officials to take all possible steps to ensure peace in the Northeastern state.
See, this was what we missed since 3 May 2023 and over the 565 days since then as the flames of ethnic conflict consumed Manipur: we missed the Home Minister directing officials to take all possible steps to blah blah.
25 May 2023: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday appealed to people in Manipur to maintain peace and promised that justice will be ensured to all sections of society. (He said this while laying a foundation stone for a project in Kamrup district, in Assam.)
31 May 2023: Amit Shah appeals for 15 day peace in Manipur
Also on that day (emphasis mine): The recent visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Manipur has resulted in significant developments aimed at restoring peace and normalcy in the state.
2 June 2023: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday (June 1) announced that a probe panel led by a retired High Court judge will investigate the recent violence in Manipur that led to the death of at least 80 people and left several injured. He said the reasons behind the month-long bout of violence and those responsible for it will be probed. (PS: What, if anything, the probe uncovered, and what action was taken, is not known.)
24 June 2023: Amit Shah says the PM is continuously monitoring the situation in Manipur
25 June 2025: Amit Shah orders Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Shah to “work harder” to restore peace in the state
10 August 2023: Amit Shah in course of a two-hour speech in Parliament appeals for peace in Manipur. He “slammed” the Opposition for “politicising the issue”
I could go on, and on, and on. So could you, by the simple expedient of Googling “Amit Shah Manipur”. Come to think of it, I have gone on and on about this — in a piece on 16 April; on 12 June; on 16 July…
The latest round of violence hit the headlines on 11 November. On the 15th, there was an attack on the CRPF camp. On the 18th, the Home Minister “rushed to the national capital on Sunday after cutting short his campaign in poll-bound Maharashtra”, reviewed the situation, and asked “senior security officials to take effective steps” to curb the violence. This news comes via “a senior official who refused to be named”.
And then there is this (emphasis mine): “The official said that Shah is likely to hold another meeting with senior officers on Monday and may take some new steps.
565 days of ceaseless strife. Hundreds killed. Many thousands displaced. But, patience — the home minister may take some additional steps.
If Amit Shah is not the most incompetent home minister in this country’s history, I’d like to see your nominations.
Amit Shah is not a proper administrator as his main task is to protect Modi. He is mentally only geared for using his powers through ED, CBI etc to target persons or organisations. He is not mentally capable of administration work done by his assistants as he concentrates on covering up for Modi both personally and officially
“Instructing officials to take all the necessary steps” has become pretty embarrassing in Manipur. To be fair to him though, I don’t think anyone believes that he was given that portfolio to maintain internal peace. There appears to be no political incentives to do anything - the worst case will be that they will lose the state next time. No obvious spillover effects. This regime cannot be moved on any considerations other than (dis)incentives of electoral politics and threat to unbridled power.