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Modi in Manipur: What he said — and what he didn't

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14th September, 2025 08:58 IST

He spoke of the reduced GST rates benefitting people.

He congratulated the new prime minister of Nepal.

He spoke about ‘ease of living’ and ‘Viksit Bharat’.

He spoke of the need for peace and building a bridge of harmony between the Valley and the Hills. He spoke of ‘Manipur Bhavans’ in New Delhi and Kolkata facilitating the stay of Manipuris visiting the two cities. He spoke of making the state a “symbol of peace”.

In his relatively short speech at the Kangla Fort in Imphal, prime minister Narendra Modi spoke of Imphal as a city of promises and possibilities too. He spoke of start-ups and opportunities in IT (information technology). He also dwelt on the new secretariat building and Rs 3,000 crore sanctioned for roads, mostly in Imphal.

At both Churachandpur in the hills, where no Meitei citizen would accompany the PM, and in Imphal, where there was no tribal representation from the hills, the prime minister waxed eloquent about Manipur being the crown jewel of Bharat.

Without Manipur, Indian culture and sports are incomplete, he said. He recalled the contribution of Manipuris in the Indian army and invoked the memory of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his INA (Indian National Army), urging his audience to draw inspiration from the legend. Manipur, he assured his audience, was top of the mind for his government and it was the BJP-led NDA administration’s ‘continuous’ efforts that had led to dialogue.

By the end of the day, people were left wondering what the PM’s visit was all about.

Modi in Manipur: why now?

The PM’s visit, his first in the 29 months since ethnic clashes broke out on 3 May 2023, had generated some expectations — though a large section of the youth seem indifferent.

What are your expectations from the PM’s visit, one of them was asked by a regional TV channel. “None” was his prompt answer.

What about you? The question was put to another youth by the same interviewer. “I do not really care” was the response, with a shrug.

The visit, they felt, was a case of too little, too late.

A small group of protestors, among them some women dressed entirely in black, were kept at bay — and so the visit was allowed to pass off smoothly.

The PM has ticked a box. Now, over the next several months, nobody can say he hasn’t visited Manipur while he campaigns in Assam ahead of the 2026 assembly polls.

The road to Churachandpur, or, no dragons left to slay

In Manipur on Saturday, 13 September, the PM did meet carefully selected groups of displaced persons, dressed for the occasion — wearing a tall-feathered hat some might have found at odds with the folded hands of humility and apology — but he did not visit the actual ‘refugee camps’; the residents of the Churachandpur relief camps were brought to meet him. Several seemed unable to meet his eyes.

He made passing reference to problems related to infrastructure and connectivity — but held out no hope, made no promise, of helping the displaced to return home or find rehabilitation.

He referred to disruption in education and boasted of online classes — but made no mention of the schools that have been turned into relief camps for the displaced.

There was no reference to the suicides or of people dying because of unavailability of medicine or healthcare staff, or of students forced to secure admission in other states (those that that can afford it, that is).

Professor of political science at Hyderabad University Kham Khan Suan Hausing reacted by posting, “PM Modi's speech in Lamka reminds me of Atma Ram's 1973 film Yeh Gulistan Hamara and the overarching themes of development [and] integration. Will development ignite passion and act as an anodyne to public psyche deeply bruised by over two years of violence? The answer is blowing in the wind.”

Lok Sabha MP Bimol Akoijam said on X, at first naming no names: “He has never acknowledged the unprecedented crisis in Manipur, including in his speeches today. No concrete and time-bound road map to resettle the IDPs or disarming or access to public facilities/assets such as highways! What contempt!”

He then spoke of the mention of the Nepal PM and the GST spiel and invoked Mahatma Gandhi, suggesting he might have responded to this too with “Hey Ram!”

Because of heavy rain, the PM could not take the helicopter to Churachandpur. He chose to drive by road.

News agency ANI breathlessly reported that it took one-and-a-half hours. It did not, however, look like a last-minute change of plan since the entire route was lined by schoolchildren in uniform, waving the tricolour.

Some reports claimed that the students had refused to wave the BJP flag, just as the Kuki-Zomi tribal folks had refused to dance for the PM. We have been in mourning the last few years, was the explanation, and dancing would be inappropriate.

There was dancing, however, reportedly by a Naga dance troupe ‘unaffected’ by the ethnic violence.

Explained: What en masse resignation in Manipur's Naga-dominated Phungyar means for BJP An ‘innocence’ that sees no divide

The PM, however, told the assembled crowd — a few among whom did mar the meeting by shouting for a separate administration for the hills: “My helicopter couldn't arrive due to the heavy rain, so I decided to travel by road. And the scenes I saw on the road today, my heart says that God did well that my helicopter didn't fly today. I came by road, and I saw the love and affection shown by everyone, from young to old, holding the tricolour on the way. I can never forget this moment in my life. I bow my head to the people of Manipur.”

The prime minister’s speech writers seemed unaware of the irony when the PM spoke of Rs 22,000 crore spent on the Jiribam–Imphal railway link, or of the newly constructed Imphal airport and helicopter services to other parts of the country.

The PM also innocently declared that 7,000 houses had been approved for the internally displaced. The fact is that the 60,000-odd people displaced by the conflict continue to live in poor conditions in the camps, forced to eat what they are served, unable to go back home, and most of them have lost their livelihoods. But PM Modi held out no immediate hope for the displaced living in camps, although at least one displaced lady decked up to greet the PM broke down and wept on the stage.

For the tribal citizens from the hills do not dare travel to the Imphal railway station or the airport, and are forced to travel to Aizawl in Mizoram for onward journeys. Meiteis similarly do not dare challenge the divide and cross into the hills.

The PM, however, said that “Imphal airport is taking air connectivity to new heights” and “this growing connectivity is enhancing convenience for all the people of Manipur and creating new employment opportunities for the youth here”.

He went on to add, “The medical college in Churachandpur is now ready, producing new doctors and improving healthcare facilities. Just imagine, for many decades after Independence, there was no medical college in the hill areas of Manipur; this achievement has been made possible by our government.”

To sum up, the prime minister said little to generate hope of a solution to the current crisis. He did not even try to bring the two ethnic groups together and announce the start of a dialogue — nor acknowledged the demands for separate homes, even as N. Biren Singh and BJP leaders from Imphal were conspicuously missing at the PM’s rally in Churachandpur, indicating a state still divided. The prime minister, however, indicated no initiative to jumpstart a political solution, even as Kuki-Zo MLAs continued to clamour for a separate administration and submitted a memorandum to the PM again on Saturday.

While the visit sadly looked like little more than an afterthought on the PMO’s calendar, a cynical political gesture signifying nothing, the PM cannot be faulted for not ending the visit on a soaring note at least.

“The land and region of Manipur is a land of hope and promise. Unfortunately, violence had gripped this magnificent area. A little while ago, I met the affected people who are living in camps. After speaking with them, I can say that a new dawn of hope and confidence is awaiting Manipur,” he declared.

We suppose the next few days — or months — will show whether his hope has some basis or is misplaced.

Turbulent North-East awaits PM Modi’s visit; not just Manipur, Assam upset too

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