Those complaining that the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has not spoken need to stop complaining.He is never shy when it comes to speaking. In fact, his urge to speak – rather, to talk to his people – is so strong that he considers it his parental duty and delivers a monthly sermon which, according to his media, is also keenly awaited by his people.Since he will be on an important mission to the USA during the last week of this month and will also probably be busy talking to the Hindu diaspora there, one can assume that he will not be able to record the radio show, ‘Mann Ki Baat’. You may say that he could well have recorded it in advance so that it can been aired later. But remaining up to date, as they say, is crucial for him. So, this time, he advanced his monthly broadcast to June 18 and talked about many important things.And the people were found listening.The BJP president was seen listening to the talk in Dibrugarh, the Uttarakhand CM, Pushkar Singh Dhami, was sighted near his radio set in Dehradun, Union minister Piyush Goyal did not miss it even though he was in Jaipur and the Goa CM, Pramod Sawant, listened in Goa.भाजपा राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष श्री @JPNadda ने डिब्रूगढ़, असम में प्रधानमंत्री श्री नरेन्द्र मोदी के लोकप्रिय रेडियो कार्यक्रम 'मन की बात' का 102वां संस्करण सुना। pic.twitter.com/HeNiOydWfo— BJP (@BJP4India) June 18, 2023What if some malcontents were seen breaking their transistor sets on the streets of Imphal saying, ‘No to Mann ki Baat’?How does it affect the great pontificator?They opted out of his nationalist pedagogic exercise only to their own disadvantage. They are so selfish that they only want themselves to be discussed by the supreme leader.We don’t know if their leaders, from different parties, who are camping in New Delhi to get the ear of the prime minister, are as ignorant as them. The truth is that the PM was, in fact, speaking to the people of Manipur on June 18. This was his way of telling them what they had missed while they were busy fomenting or escaping violence.The complaint is that how can the PM not speak a word about Manipur, which has been burning for more than 40 days? Where more than 150 people have been killed because of the continuing violence? Where hundreds of churches, houses and business establishments have been burnt and destroyed? Where thousands are displaced and arms are being looted by the mobs? Where there is a bloody divide between communities and where the state seems to have disappeared?The address of June 18 was a reminder to the people of Manipur that they were wasting their time with violence while teacher Raafi Ramnath of Kerala was busy learning the Japanese technique of Miyawaki, which is a very good way to make an area green if the soil is not fertile. This technique is gradually being seen in India also. Raafi Ramnath created a mini forest called ‘Vidyavanam’ with over 115 varieties of vegetation. Manipur’s residents clearly need to turn their attention to this technique – something they cannot do if they continue with their violence.Similarly, they needed to learn from the people of Hapur in Uttar Pradesh who have given new life to a dead river and are now reviving its source as Amrit Sarovar.If they do not desist from violence, how would they play their role in eradicating tuberculosis from India and be part of the mission Nikshay? If they adopt villages like people in other parts of this great country and not burn or escape them, only then can this scourge of TB go away.Importantly, they must end the violence and get ready to participate in World Yoga Day on June 25. How can they miss this global movement which the PM would be leading from the UN? How can they forget that the world is one family?Finally, it is not the police, not the Army, not the state but the collective force of the people of India which solves all problems. It is this power the PM expects will rise to the occasion in the state of Manipur. People have to take charge of their destiny and not depend on the state.When the PM asked children of the country to not leave their homework till the last day of their summer holidays, he had the children of Manipur in his mind. The latter’s parents are so irresponsible that they did not let their children do it since they were burning their own houses and along with it the books and notebooks of their children.People crying for the PM to speak on the violence of Manipur do not understand these things.The constituents of the great leader understand. They get the message of his silence. They know that if he is silent about something and people are crying for him to say something, it must be trivial and does not deserve his attention. He must not be disturbed while performing his civilisational task of transforming India, leading it back to the throne of the guru of the world.Was he not asked to speak when Akhlaq was killed and when the mob lynching of Muslims became routine for India? Was he not condemned for not speaking when his own men and women were threatening and abusing Muslims openly, and organising hate assemblies?One must understand that the leader has his way of speaking. When Christians wanted him to speak on the attacks on community members across the country, Modi visited a church in Delhi. “He planted a sapling. He praised our garden and the way it was maintained, and also gave tips on how to keep a plant alive. He revealed that he likes gardening and suggested burying a clay pot filled with water near a plant to keep it green and help it live longer,” a bishop gushed.How can who is so concerned about ways to keep a plant green be considered insensitive to human lives? One has to learn to decode his language and extract meaning out of it. The people of Manipur will learn it too.
