A visit after silence – Manipur deserves accountability, not optics

Imphal and Churachandpur are witnessing frantic preparations. Roads are being cleared, venues spruced up, and security tightened. Such urgency leaves little doubt: the Prime Minister is finally preparing to set foot in Manipur after two and a half years of silence. The government has not confirmed it officially, but the signs are unmistakable. The extension of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF), and the Kuki-Zo Council’s commitment to reopen National Highway-2, are not routine developments. They are part of a calculated effort to create a façade of stability ahead of a long-delayed visit.
But let us be clear: two and a half years is not just a gap. It is an abdication. For over 27 months, while Manipur bled, burned, and fragmented, the Prime Minister remained conspicuously absent. His silence was deafening. Families were torn apart, thousands displaced, and the social fabric shredded—yet no words of comfort, no gesture of leadership, and no visit to stand with the people came from the highest office in the land.
This editorial cannot tiptoe around the truth: the Prime Minister failed Manipur when the state needed him most. Leadership is not about timing visits for political convenience or waiting for the optics to align. It is about showing up when the people are most vulnerable, when courage is required, and when accountability must be shouldered. By remaining absent, the Prime Minister sent a dangerous message—that Manipur’s pain was peripheral, expendable, and unworthy of his presence.
Now, with the stage being hurriedly set, one must ask: what is the purpose of this visit? If it is to merely showcase “normalcy” through cleaned streets, extended agreements, and reopened highways, then it risks becoming yet another act of political theatre. The people of Manipur deserve more than symbolism. They deserve an honest reckoning with the failures of the past two and a half years and a concrete roadmap for peace and justice.
The extension of the SoO agreement, while necessary, cannot be treated as a substitute for political will. It has been extended before, and each time the promise of dialogue has been delayed. Without strict monitoring and inclusive engagement with all communities, it will remain a fragile truce at best. Similarly, the reopening of NH-2 is welcome for the movement of people and goods, but let us not pretend this gesture alone resolves the deeper mistrust that chokes Manipur’s future.
The Prime Minister must not arrive merely to cut ribbons, deliver polished speeches, and depart leaving behind headlines. He must confront the brutal reality that his silence allowed violence and mistrust to harden. He must meet the displaced families still languishing in relief camps. He must address the grievances of communities that feel abandoned. Most importantly, he must explain to the people why it took him 27 months to visit a state in crisis.
Anything less would be an insult to the resilience of Manipur’s people, who have endured unimaginable suffering in the absence of leadership. The people are not waiting for another performance of governance—they are waiting for accountability.
If this visit is to mean anything, it must not be about optics but about substance. It must go beyond extended agreements and symbolic gestures, and instead commit to rebuilding trust, delivering justice, and ensuring that no community feels expendable again.
After two and a half years of silence, the Prime Minister owes Manipur not just words but actions—actions that acknowledge past failures and chart a future of dignity, justice, and peace.