'Is this how you plan to run India? Is this how you plan to save India?'
'If this is your plan, then what happened in Manipur will start happening all over the country.'
Vinod Kumar Sharma resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday, July 28.
Sharma, who quit the Congress in 2019 over the party's questioning of the strikes against terrorist camps in Balakot, Pakistan, affirms he has always criticised mistakes made by political parties and his resignation from the BJP is his way of expressing his angst against the way Prime Minister Narendra D Modi is handling the volatile situation in Manipur.
Sharma tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com why he quit the party and what, in his opinion, will help restore peace in strife-torn Manipur.
Why did you quit the BJP? You quit the Congress four years ago and joined the BJP and now you have quit the BJP as well. What happened?
I quit the BJP because there's still humanity left in me.
When I saw the video of my mothers and sisters from Manipur being paraded naked, when they were touching body parts of my mothers and sisters the nation was ashamed; I was equally ashamed.
To rub salt into such wounds, I saw Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh saying, there are many more such videos where our mothers and sisters are being paraded naked, but I cannot take any action against anybody. This statement numbed my conscience. That made me realise that I am also a father to a daughter, a brother to a sister and son to a mother. Such atrocity can happen against anybody.
Our government was woken up to act by the statement made by none other than the Chief Justice of India (Dr Dhananjay Yeshwant Chandrachud) for which I congratulate him. It was his statement that the Supreme Court would have to swing into action if the Union government or state government doesn't take any action on it.
I also felt that as a human being I should also act. The party (BJP leadership in Bihar) put lot of pressure on me to defend the state government (in Manipur) and Union government on TV debates, but I flatly refused to do their bidding.
I spoke to some senior leaders in Delhi before resigning and also informed my leaders in Bihar that I was resigning from the party.
If Modiji cannot protect the honour of women, then he should stop giving slogans like beti bachao (save our daughters), nari sashaktikaran (women empowerment), and sanatan dharam.
Kya sanatan sanskriti is baat ki ijazat deti hai ki hum apni maa, behno ko nanga karme, nivastra karke, road per ghumaye aur unke angon se khilwad karen? (Does sanatan dharam allow us to disrobe our womenfolk, touch their bodies and parade them naked in the streets?)
The world must not have witnessed such a scene of a mob parading naked women in streets and playing with their bodies.
How do you explain quitting from the Congress and joining the BJP and now quitting the BJP?
Mistakes are mistakes. I have never kept quiet to expose the mistakes political parties made.
In 2019, the Congress questioned the surgical strikes (in Balakot) and I told them that you cannot question the Indian Army.
Today, Modiji is also making a mistake by toying around with the situation in Manipur and I have spoken against it by resigning from the party. I cannot keep quiet in such situations.
People criticise me saying that I find fault with everybody. Do you expect me to silence myself when such mistakes are made? Humanity calls for exposing such inactions and mistakes.
I am making my own tiny effort to expose these mistakes and speak on behalf of the oppressed.
Who are the senior leaders who you met in Delhi?
I met J Arun Singh and Sanjay Mayukh, who is the media in-charge and national spokesperson of the BJP. I sought a meeting with Naddaji, Amit Shahji, butI didn't get their appointments. But I had already expressed my sentiments and sent a message to them (J P Nadda, the BJP national president, and Amit A Shah, the Union home minister) that I would be resigning.
Prime Minister Narendra D Modi has categorically stated that the culprits will not be spared. Do you believe that after he spoke stern action will be taken against those involved in the naked parading of women?
Are you (Narendra Modi) kidding the nation by making such statements? Is this how a prime minister addresses a serious issue?
Are you feeling ashamed to sack the chief minister? You speak only after the Chief Justice of India, who is regarded as a symbol of justice for the people of India, talks about taking action.
And what do you mean when you talk of taking action or saying that the guilty will not be spared? Were there just two or ten people involved in that heinous crime?
Your government in Manipur is responsible for the crime. The person who says that there are many more such videos but we cannot take any action, your chief minister is the chief culprit. What remains to be said when a chief minister makes such statements.
If you too are human, then you will definitely think about it (taking action against N Biren Singh).
Don't tell me that the PM spoke about taking action. Modiji is just fooling the nation.
What action can you take? You will just arrest a couple of people and call it action? Will your stature reduce if you sack your chief minister?
What actions do you think will help improve the situation in Manipur?
At the very least the prime minister must immediately sack the chief minister (of Manipur). The nation demands it. Our mothers, sisters, daughters demand it. Our Chief Justice is asking for action.
Why are you thinking so much? Why are you scared to sack him?
How will sacking a chief minister help cool down the situation in Manipur?
Immediately impose President's rule in Manipur. Send an army general to control and crush the violence in the state and you will see that within two days the state will limp back to normalcy.
You talk about fighting China and Pakistan and cannot handle a state with just 25 lakh people (2.5 million), which is the size of population of Patna.
Your home minister (Amit A Shah) visits the state for some formalities and enjoys hospitality in Manipur and comes back from a picnic.
Is this how you plan to run India? Is this how you plan to save India? If this is your plan, then what happened in Manipur a few months ago will become normal and start happening all over the country.
BJP spokesperson from Bihar Arvind Kumar Singh claims you are just a member of the BJP and don't hold any significant position in the party. What do you have to say about this?
Is the party crazy to send me to all the TV channels to defend the BJP's positions since 2019?
Just a week ago I was on NDTV (defending the party). Just a day before my resignation I was on ZEE Bihar.
Why doesn't he (Arvind Singh) ask senior party leaders why they would send me to defend the party as a spokesperson if I was not the BJP spokesperson?
Or, is it that they (senior BJP leaders) considered me their son-in-law and send me to all the TV channels?
What would you like to tell Prime Minister Modi?
Modiji, please immediately and unconditionally sack the Manipur chief minister. Dismiss the Manipur government and impose President's rule in the state. Deal with the situation with a firm, iron hand.
You should not have slept over for almost four months now.
All the mistakes of the state government are before you to see.
Why are you running away from your duties and responsibilities? Why are you not making a statement in Parliament?
