THE Opposition is scripting the same old story with new detail by insisting upon discussion in Parliament under a specific rule, even though the Government is willing to have discussion on the Manipur issue. The Opposition is insisting that it wants a full day discussion on Manipur issue, while the Government is willing to have a limited-period discussion to start with. Yet, the Opposition is adamant. Hence the current logjam in Parliament -- though only for record. The actual reason, however, is that the Opposition is least interested in giving the Government an upper hand and opportunity to explain the truth of the Manipur situation. For, the Opposition is afraid that if the Manipur truth is out as it actually is, then many a political equation would get busted -- which the Opposition possibly cannot afford to allow. For, the Manipur issue is far more complex than what appears on the surface. And given the persisting violence in Manipur, there are ample reasons to suspect that some elements in the north-eastern or national politics may be even masterminding dirty designs against Indian interests.

 

A detailed discussion on Manipur issue, thus, may bring out some unpleasant truths and may embarrass some elements in the country. That may be the reason for the Opposition to create a situation in which actual discussion does not take place. However, for record, the Opposition is asking for discussion, but in actuality, it is running away from discussion by insisting upon it only under a certain rule. The Opposition’s effort, thus, is somehow to malign the Government as an entity unwilling to discuss the details of Manipur situation. This is far from truth, and the common Indian people realise this well. Yet, blinded by its anti-Modi politics, the Opposition is acting obstinately. There, of course, are many gaps in the Manipur story. Those gaps are obliterating the actual picture. Lots of distortions are being circulated in the country and also abroad about the Manipur situation. There are enough reasons to believe that the Opposition is benefitting from this condition since it gets an opportunity to tarnish the Government’s -- and more particularly Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s -- image. But then, this has been the Opposition’s approach for the past 8-9 years -- asking for discussion in Parliament, but actually not letting that happen. On countless issues, this has been the story. The attempt, obviously, is to demonstrate to the common people that the Government is not interested in discussion and that it is defiling the institution of Parliament by denying the Opposition an opportunity to have detailed discussion on critical issues.

 

If the Opposition is persistent about its strategy, the Government is insistent upon its approach. It has stressed time and again that it is open to discussion on every possible issue of national interest. The common people, thus, carry the right impression -- that the Government is willing to have discussion and the Opposition is creating hurdles in that path. In this battle of perception-management, the Government has been enjoying an upper hand for obvious reasons. The Opposition does not realise this and insists upon rescripting the same old story each time in different words -- which, in different words, is known as politics. In the process, however, the nation suffers. Realising this, the Government keeps making appeal after appeal to the Opposition’s good sense, though without avail. The common people, therefore, realise that the Opposition is only pushing the Government too senselessly with a point of no-return in sight. In this tussle, the loser will be the Opposition -- and, of course, the nation.