News Analysis India

Tag: Northeast

  • Will try to link Northeast capitals with rail, air by 2024: Amit Shah

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Centre would connect the capitals of all states in the Northeast with the railway as well as the airway.

    “It will be difficult to give pace to development here (Northeast) without connectivity. That’s why, after the formation of the BJP government in 2014, the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) had laid thrust on connectivity in the Northeast,” Shah said at a programme in Meghalaya capital Shillong on Saturday.

    “Our effort will be to connect the capitals of all states in the Northeast with railway and airway by 2024. Along with this, road connectivity has to be also strengthened,” the Home Minister said.

    He reviewed the operation of the North Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC) which plays a key role in stimulating the overall growth of the region by using space science and technology.

    He applauded the NESAC’s efforts and dedication and assured it that the Centre was committed to providing advanced technical support to the region for the transformation of the lives of people.

    “Mapping of forest gap areas, expansion of the land area for horticulture development, Identification & rejuvenation of wetlands, diversion of floodwater and assessment of bamboo resources for livelihood needs are a few among many key ideas that were discussed during the meeting,” the Home Minister tweeted.

    Later in the evening, he was scheduled to attend a meeting with the chief ministers of the region and discuss various issues, including interstate boundary disputes among them.

    After landing in Shillong, Shah inaugurated some projects, including the inter-state bus terminus at Mawiong.

  • BJP snubs Northeast allies in Modi cabinet rejig

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The BJP ignored its allies in the Northeast as Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshuffled his ministry on Wednesday.

    Five from the Northeast – Kiren Rijiju (Arunachal), Sarbananda Sonowal, Rameswar Teli (both from Assam), Pratima Bhowmick (Tripura), and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh (Manipur) made the cut. The four states are ruled by the BJP.

    The BJP is a constituent of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)-headed ruling coalition in Nagaland and National People’s Party (NPP)-led government in Meghalaya. It is also an ally of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram.

    MNF has two MPs – C Lalrosanga and K Vanlalvena – while NDPP and NPP have one each – Tokheho Yepthomi and Agatha Sangma respectively. Despite being BJP allies, these regional parties were not considered for representation in the Modi government.

    WR Kharlukhi, who is NPP’s Meghalaya unit chief, said the selection of candidates for ministerial berths was Modi’s prerogative.

    ALSO READ | Non-performance and failure in image maintenance prove costly as 12 ministers face axe in Modi’s Cabinet expansion

    “It is the prerogative of the PM. The PM will pick up his men who are good for the administration and I think he has done well. We have no grievances,” Kharlukhi said.

    NDPP president Chingwang Konyak refused to make any comment while MNF leaders were not available on the phone.

    This is for the first time that five from the Northeast were inducted into the central ministry. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh and Pratima Bhowmick are first-timers in the Parliament as well as the ministry.

    Singh, popularly known as RK Ranjan who belongs to an erstwhile royal clan of Manipur, is an academic-turned-politician. He had joined the BJP in 2013 and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but lost.

    Pratima, Tripura’s “didi”, is a science graduate who had served BJP’s state unit as the general secretary prior to her election to the Parliament in 2019.

    Earlier, Santosh Mohan Deb and Triguna Sen were inducted into the Union cabinet from Tripura but they were not from the state. Deb hailed from Assam and Sen from West Bengal.

  • CMs of BJP-ruled states in Northeast condemn Congress on 46th anniversary of Emergency

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states in the Northeast condemned the Congress on the 46th anniversary of the Emergency, describing it as the darkest day of democracy.

    Taking to Twitter, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote: “National Emergency was not done to thwart any attempt of political violence or sedition. It was a sheer manifestation of Gandhi’s anger & her attempt to enjoy political supremacy.”

    Manipur CM N Biren Singh said on this day in 1975, the declaration of Emergency by the Congress to fulfil its own political interests was the biggest assault on India’s democracy.

    ALSO READ: Dark days of Emergency can never be forgotten, says PM Modi

    “We will never forget those dark days of dictatorship. Salute to the satyagrahis who resisted the emergency despite fierce torture,” Singh wrote on the micro-blogging site.

    He shared a poster along with his tweet, captioning it “Emergency 1975, the unforgivable sin of the Congress; a horrible saga to capture power by crushing the Constitution and democracy.”

    Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Dey also remembered “the darkest day of democracy.”

    He tweeted that the Emergency was imposed violating the freedom of expression and the rights of people. “I salute everyone who fiercely and fearlessly resisted the Emergency,” Deb said.

    He saluted every voice that was raised against the “darkest chapter of Indian history and democracy on the occasion of Anti-Emergency Day.”

  • India wants peace but won’t tolerate any aggression, Rajnath warns Beijing on Arunachal visit

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh sent out a firm warning to China right from the frontline as he visited Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday.

    He said India would not tolerate any aggression. “As far as India is concerned, there is no second opinion. We are a worshipper of peace and we never resorted to aggression against any country, whether a neighbour or otherwise. But if someone resorts to aggression against us, we know how to give a befitting reply,” Singh told a gathering at Kimin in Arunachal after dedicating 12 roads, built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), to the nation.

    This was his maiden visit to the frontier state since the clashes occurred in eastern Ladakh last year. In November 2019, China had objected to his visit to the state.

    “We want to maintain peace with everyone. The message that the whole world is one family had gone out from India. Our intention has never been to show any aggression against any country,” the Defence Minister reiterated.

    He said the Northeast is strategic from the military point of view.

    “The Northeast has a unique geography as it is bound by five countries,” Singh said, taking the names of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal but not China.

    Beijing lays its claim over entire Arunachal but the state’s Chief Minister Pema Khandu often calls it the Arunachal-Tibet border.

    Singh said there are challenges in the Northeast and cited the problem of border smuggling, particularly fake currency notes.

    “The Northeast is known worldwide for its beauty and socio-cultural diversities. But the truth is that post-independence, the region did not develop at a pace it should have. It has developed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The people here know it,” the Minister said.

    He lauded the BRO for the construction of the roads. He said the BRO’s ability signified India’s self-dependence. The roads built are key to nation’s security, he added.

    Ten of the 12 roads have been built in Arunachal and one each in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

  • India ‘priest’ of world peace, but well equipped to respond to aggression, says Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

    By PTI
    KIMIN: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said India is the “priest” of world peace, but asserted it has the wherewithal to give a befitting reply to acts of aggression.

    Dedicating 12 strategic roads here to the nation, he said any serious disturbance in peace and tranquility in the border areas is bound to have adverse implications.

    The strategic roads would not only give a boost to connectivity, but facilitate faster movement of troops along the international border as well, Singh said.

    “The capability of the Border Roads Organisation in construction of world-class roads despite challenges in tough and hilly terrain depicts the mantra of ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’,” the defence minister said.

  • YouTuber Paras Singh, in jail for using racial slur against Arunachal MLA, gets bail

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: YouTuber Paras Singh, who was arrested last month for making racial remarks against Arunachal Pradesh MLA Ninong Ering and the state, has been granted bail.

    The Sessions Court in Yupia granted him bail on the execution of a personal bond of Rs 10,000. It ordered him not to leave the country and stay away from interfering in the probe.

    The investigation is almost over and all necessary statements have been recorded by the police, Public Prosecutor Rotom Vijay said.

    About a dozen FIRs were filed against the 22-year-old in different parts of the state.

    In a video posted on YouTube, he had commented that the state MLA Ering does not look like an Indian. He claimed the “state is a part of China”. After the comments had triggered outrage in the Northeast, Singh was arrested from Ludhiana by a special investigating team (SIT) from Arunachal and brought to Itanagar on May 27.

    He told the SIT that he had made the controversial video to gain maximum attention and views which would have maximized his income from the channel. The police said Singh was angry that Ering had written a letter seeking a ban on PUBG.

    On June 4, Twitter was bombarded by students and others from the Northeast demanding the inclusion of a chapter on the region’s geography, culture, ethnicity, and lifestyle of people in NCERT textbooks.

    The demand followed repeated remarks of a racial slur against northeasterners by a section of the mainlanders. The locals believe such behaviour can be checked by including a chapter on the region in NCERT textbooks.

  • ISRO to help development projects in Northeast: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will assist development projects in the Northeast by offering optimum utilisation of satellite imaging and other space technology for better accomplishment of targets.

    Chairing a high-level meeting with senior officers of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and ISRO scientists, Singh said six out of the eight states of the Northeast have already sent their proposals for execution by the ISRO, while the remaining two, Sikkim and Assam, will send their proposals soon.

    The ISRO will assist development projects in the Northeast through space technology and will contribute by offering optimum utilisation of satellite imaging and other space technology applications for better accomplishment of infrastructural projects in all eight states, he said.

    Singh said the ISRO is already monitoring and geo-tagging 67 projects at 221 sites in all eight states funded by Ministry of DoNER and the NEC.

    He said this is first of its kind in the whole country where there is an institutionalised involvement of the ISRO in mapping and sharing of data for developmental projects and it can become a model for other states too.

    The minister said one of the major highlights of the Modi government has been that in the last seven years, the ISRO is no longer confined mainly to the launching of satellites, but it has been constantly enlarging its role in development activities, thus contributing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission of “transforming India”.

    The North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) at Shillong has received a number of proposals from the Northeastern states.

    It would be discussing the feasibility and desirability of all such projects, one by one with each of the states in the next fortnight.

    Once identified, all such projects are likely to be funded jointly by respective states and the NESAC.

    Singh said Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Shillong and held a meeting with the NESAC in January this year where major projects to be taken up were flagged.

    Some of the important projects on which work is under progress are like the mapping of forest gap areas, expansion of land area for horticulture development, identification and rejuvenation of wetlands and diversion of floodwater, assessment of bamboo resources for livelihood needs.

    The minister said the home minister is likely to visit the centre again in July to review the progress of the projects.

    He said despite the crippling effects of the COVID-19, much headway was made in execution of these projects.

    Singh said in Northeastern region, space technology is now being used in diverse sectors, including agriculture, railways, roads and bridges, medical management, telemedicine, procurement of timely utilisation certificates, disaster forecast and management, weather, rain, flood forecast.

    Senior officials from the ISRO informed the minister that seven projects from Arunachal Pradesh in areas like dam construction and flood mitigation, three model villages, horticulture and border fencing at zero level are nearing completion.

    Similar projects from other states are also on way to achieve target.

    The NESAC is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Space and located in Shillong and provides dedicated service to the region’s eight states viz.

    Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

    The centre was set up with a vision to play the catalytic role in holistic development of Northeast by providing space science and technology support on natural resource management, infrastructure planning, healthcare, education, emergency communication, disaster management support, and space and atmospheric science research.

  • Northeast students, academics create ‘Twitter storm’, demand chapter on region in NCERT books

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Twitter was on Friday evening bombarded by students, academics and others from the Northeast demanding the inclusion of a chapter on the region – its geography, culture, ethnicity and lifestyle of people in NCERT textbooks.

    The demand followed repeated remarks of racial slur against north-easterners by a section of the mainlanders. They believe such behaviour can be checked by including a chapter on the Northeast in NCERT.

    #AchapterforNEIndia and #NortheastMatters were flooded with comments as people joined the “Twitter Storm”. They tagged the powers-that-be, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

    Samujjal Bhattacharyya, who is an advisor to North East Students’ Organisation, wrote: “Ignorant mainlanders seem to be unaware of our existence as an inextricable part of India. Sensitise students by adding #AChapterForNE to begin with; for #NortheastMatters. The land of rich heritage, exotic flora/fauna & impeccable culture, NE is more than a resource frontier alone.”

    The latest remarks of racial slur were directed against former Union Minister and sitting Arunachal Pradesh MLA, Ninong Ering. In a video posted on YouTube, one Paras Singh had described the Congress MLA a “non-Indian”. He ostensibly also claimed the “state (Arunachal) is a part of China”. After the comments had triggered an outrage in the Northeast, Singh was arrested by the police.

    Ering tweeted on Friday: “Today, I am joining Twitter Storm not only as a representative but as a common citizen of North East India. The world needs to know about us and learn about our history, geography, culture and other aspects.”

    One Kabyashree Kalita from Assam wrote: “Mughals couldn’t invade ASSAM 17 times. NORTHEAST is the ONLY PART OF INDIA that the Mughals failed to conquer during their reign for over two centuries. Don’t you think #ASSAM#AHOMS#NE deserves a chapter in NCERT?”

    Another user, Chophika Sumi from Nagaland, said, “We are only asserting our rights as Indians. Please hear us out.”

    “Our geography, ethnicity, culture and way of life need a place in NCERT textbooks,” tweeted Amar Sangno, a senior journalist from Arunachal..Sahin, another user, tweeted: “Seven sisters, one brother, one soul. We stand up together, as a whole. They call us different but we sing the same National Anthem and salute the same National Flag. We may be aside but we aren’t apart, we are from NORTHEAST INDIA.”

    Asmita Bharadwaj, who is the vice president of Northeast Students’ Union of Vadodara, Gujarat, said the incident involving Ering, along with years of discrimination against the people from the Northeast, were the reasons behind the Twitter Storm campaign.

    Assam’s Mayur Jyoti Kaushik, behind the #AchapterforNEIndia, attributed such behaviour to the lack of knowledge and education about the Northeast among people residing in the mainland.

  • Include more information on northeastern region in national syllabus: Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma

    By PTI
    SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Saturday said there is need to include more information on the culture and history of northeastern region in the national syllabus.

    This, he said, would help to promote national integration.

    Sangma was virtually participating at the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting where Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu had also made a similar suggestion.

    “In the @NITIAayog Governing Council meeting chaired by @narendramodi ji, honble CM Arunachal Pradesh @PemaKhanduBJP ji gave a wonderful suggestion of including more info on northeast culture chapters in national syllabus. It will go a long way in building national integration,” the chief minister tweeted.

    In the @NITIAayog Governing Council meeting Chaired by @narendramodi ji, hon’ble CM Arunachal Pradesh @PemaKhanduBJP ji gave a wonderful suggestion of including more info on north east culture chapters in national syllabus. It will go a long way in building national integration.
    — Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) February 20, 2021

    Sangma also stressed the importance of strengthening cooperative federalism.

    “In #NitiAayog’s Governing Council meet with PM @narendramodi ji, Lt Governors & CMs, stressed on the need to strengthen cooperative federalism through Sister-State relationship & the role GoI can play in fostering reciprocal economic development for States,” he added.

  • Cong has no regard for NE region, its traditions: PM

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said he felt a deep sense of anguish at the Congress “abusing” Northeast culture and calling its dress “outlandish”.

    Coming down heavily on the rival party at an election rally at Lunglei, he also said that the country has understood the “divide and rule” policy of the Congress and that is the reason the party was just confined to two to three states.

    Mizoram in the Northeast is the last bastion of the Congress. Election to the 40-member assembly is scheduled for November 28.

    “The Congress party, which once governed maximum number of states, is now restricted to just two or three states. Now, the people of Mizoram have a golden opportunity to rid themselves of this Congress culture,” Modi said.

    The priority for Congress is not the people of Mizoram, it is fighting to gain power, the PM charged.

    “I feel deep sense of anguish when I see a Congress leader abused traditional dress of northeast states, calling them outlandish. Your hopes, ambitions do not matter to the Congress. Their priority is power and not the people of Mizoram,” he stated.

    In the last four years, the BJP government at the Centre, has worked for greater recognition of Indian culture and traditions, far and wide, Modi asserted.

    Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had in August stated that Prime Minister Modi wears “outlandish” headgear.

    “I ask you why does our Prime Minister wear all sorts of outlandish headgear wherever he goes around the country or around the world? Why does he always refuse to wear a Muslim skull cap? Tharoor had stated.

    “You see him in Naga headgears with feathers. You have seen him in various kinds of extraordinary outfits which is a right thing for a prime minister to do. Indira Gandhi has also been photographed wearing various kinds of costumes. But why he still always says no to one?,” Tharoor had stated.

    The prime minister said, “Through its ‘Act, East, Act Fast’ policy, the BJP has, in the last 4.5 years, developed every region of the Northeast”.

    The double engine of the BJP governments in both the Centre and the State will take Mizoram to new heights, he added.