Remembering Ratan Thiyam: What the Manipur Legend Had to Say About Modi, Manipur Violence

Ratan Thiyam, one of India’s most acclaimed directors and playwrights, passed away on July 23, 2025.

In a powerful and passionate interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Thiyam had said that if the prime minister or the home minister ask him to initiate a truth and reconciliation process in Manipur he would be prepared to consider doing so. Thiyam said he was “heartbroken” by the tragedy unfolding in Manipur but did not believe that the anger between the Kuki and the Meitei communities had gone so far and deep that they could not be reconciled.

In a 30-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Thiyam, who was both a former chairperson and the former director of the National School of Drama, said he cannot understand the prime minister’s silence and refusal to talk about Manipur in Sunday’s Mann Ki Baat, though he did find time to speak about the cyclone in Gujarat and even the Emergency, which is 40-years old. Thiyam said the prime minister seems to have turned his back on Manipur just when it needs him the most.

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