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Sangma addresses illegal immigration and insurgency in NE
New Delhi, July 24: Taking a dig at the Congress for failing to control illegal immigration and insurgency in the Northeast, NCP leader P A Sangma has said the newly floated pressure group comprising non-Congress leaders from the region will accord top prirority to these issues and fight elections in near future.
New Delhi, July 24: Taking a dig at the Congress for failing to control illegal immigration and insurgency in the Northeast, NCP leader P A Sangma has said the newly floated pressure group comprising non-Congress leaders from the region will accord top prirority to these issues and fight elections in near future.
''The forum is attaching importance to three issues -- checking illegal immigration from Bangladesh, curbing insurgency and economic development of the region,'' Sangma told reporters here.
''The Congress which had a strong presence in the northeast and is presently in power in four states of the region has not addressed these issues adequately,'' he lamented.
''Illegal migrants have been used as a vote bank in Assam by the Congress,'' he charged.
A meeting between Sangma and Nagaland and Mizoram Chief Ministers Neiphiu Rio and Zoramthanga was held here early this month to chalk out the strategy. Invitations were extended to prominent non-Congress leaders from the northeast to join the forum. It would be a common platform for like-minded leaders to address the common issues of the region.
Assam had been a victim of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and if the current rate continued the demographic composition of the entire Northeast would change in the next 20 years and the issue needed to be addressed on a war-footing, the NCP leader asserted.
''There has to be a common approach to tackle insurgency, the biggest problem of the region,'' he pointed out.
The forum would also emphasise on the infrastructure development in the region and enable creation of non-lapsable pool of resources, Sangma said. ''The donor, North Eastern Council and Planning Commission have all been funding agencies but now they should take up the project themselves,'' he suggested.
''These bodies must select big projects to boost the economy of the region. This will also erase the ill-feelings among the Northeasterns towards the Centre,'' the former Lok Sabha Speaker said. ''Today the most visible symbol of the central government in the region is the army,'' he regretted.
Bureau Report
''The forum is attaching importance to three issues -- checking illegal immigration from Bangladesh, curbing insurgency and economic development of the region,'' Sangma told reporters here.
''The Congress which had a strong presence in the northeast and is presently in power in four states of the region has not addressed these issues adequately,'' he lamented.
''Illegal migrants have been used as a vote bank in Assam by the Congress,'' he charged.
A meeting between Sangma and Nagaland and Mizoram Chief Ministers Neiphiu Rio and Zoramthanga was held here early this month to chalk out the strategy. Invitations were extended to prominent non-Congress leaders from the northeast to join the forum. It would be a common platform for like-minded leaders to address the common issues of the region.
Assam had been a victim of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and if the current rate continued the demographic composition of the entire Northeast would change in the next 20 years and the issue needed to be addressed on a war-footing, the NCP leader asserted.
''There has to be a common approach to tackle insurgency, the biggest problem of the region,'' he pointed out.
The forum would also emphasise on the infrastructure development in the region and enable creation of non-lapsable pool of resources, Sangma said. ''The donor, North Eastern Council and Planning Commission have all been funding agencies but now they should take up the project themselves,'' he suggested.
''These bodies must select big projects to boost the economy of the region. This will also erase the ill-feelings among the Northeasterns towards the Centre,'' the former Lok Sabha Speaker said. ''Today the most visible symbol of the central government in the region is the army,'' he regretted.
Bureau Report