The eight Northeastern States are an intrinsic part of the civilisational matrix of India and it is a crying shame that they have been marginalised to the extent that neighbours can encroach our land with impunity; children studying outside their States can be harassed and one even beaten to death in the National Capital; even as callous neglect by successive regimes at the Centre stifles all prospects of progress and development in the region.
Launching the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s juggernaut in this neglected region, Narendra Modi dubbed the Eight Sisters (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim) as Ashtha-Lakshmi, who must be offered a lotus seat to give the region its desired growth and development opportunities. Cleverly juxtaposing the BJP’s election symbol with the iconographic detail that all Indian divinities are offered the lotus throne, Narendra Modi said that the region has a rich human resource and spirit to fight all odds and can emerge as a “strong player in the economic profile of India”. He exhorted the people to “give Lakshmi a lotus seat”.
Addressing the New Hope New Manipur Rally at a heavily attended Acsouba Club Ground at Lang Jing, Imphal, the Gujarat strongman said that the UPA and the Congress have played with issues of national security in this sensitive region, to the extent that boundary pillars with Myanmar have gone missing, China and Bangladesh nibble at our borders, “can any country run like this?” As the crowd chanted ‘no, no’, he lambasted the Chief Minister of the State for quietly changing the boundary with Myanmar without taking Parliament and even the State’s elected representatives into confidence. His defence was that he had consulted the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister. “They are playing with the integrity of the nation,” Narendra Modi charged, “who gave them the power to do this?” He added that the wire fencing in the Moro sector left a huge chunk of Indian territory outside, “this is anti-national and anti-people. Your forefathers have protected this land with their blood,” he said. The BJP president Rajnath Singh even wrote to the Prime Minister in this regard in December 2013.
The BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate said that much water has flown down the Brahmaputra over the past 60 years, yet the region has nothing to show by way of progress. The Prime Minister represents the region (Assam) in the Rajya Sabha; the Chief Minister has made him and other leaders inaugurate projects that remain incomplete but provide photo-opportunities, he mocked, and asked the people to end the policy of electing the wrong people and give the BJP a chance for the next 60 months.
The UPA, he said, has neither leader, nor policy, nor intent (na neta, niti, neeyat), and there is complete collapse of governance and administration. It is surprising, he observed, that there is shortage of water and electricity in Manipur, and the same crisis also pervades the National Capital. The Centre’s star programme, MREGA has failed in Manipur; all schemes remain on paper and funds are siphoned off to fill the lockers of the ruling party; panchayats are not given funds properly so there is no employment generation; and of the 6.60 lakh persons registered on the employment exchange, a miniscule 100 have been provided jobs, which is a crying shame, “doob maron Congress ke mitron,” he chastised, amidst shouts of approval from his audience.
The North-East thirsts for employment, women’s empowerment, and equal opportunity, Narendra Modi said, promising that he would take the process begun by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee forward. Atal ji, he reminded the people, devoted attention to the organised development of the region and created a separate Ministry at the Centre; developed a special 20-point programme for the region with regular monitoring by the Centre; and made it mandatory for all Central Departments to spend 10 per cent of their budget on the North-East. Regretting that since independence the Centre’s policies have not been “properly aligned to the development of the region,” Narendra Modi asserted, “I am here with the commitment and conviction to do something.”
Lack of attention has left the region prey to divisive forces, giving rise to problems of extremism, insurgency, infiltration, and above all, drug trafficking which is taking a heavy toll on the youth. This is driven by lack of education and employment opportunities, and Manipur has seen some of the worst Congress governments, where some leaders are complicit in the cross-border trafficking of drugs. The only solution that the Centre and State have when problems mount are fake encounters; even pregnant women are killed.
Corruption has scaled all heights. The Rs 200 crore scam in the cleaning of the scenic Loktak lake parallels the Ganga cleaning scam (talaab ki safai nahin, haath ki safai ki) he said amidst laughter. When the BJP comes to power, he promised, it would seek accountability for every rupee, and would bring back the black money stashed abroad.
Yet the north east, he insisted, has ample opportunity for growth and development, and only needs some vision and management of its ample resources. It has oil and gas like Gujarat, so there is no reason why it should languish. Narendra Modi said that he asked some IT barons why the tasks out-sourced by America were concentrated on big cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune, and not spread to smaller towns. The IT sector would be an ideal opportunity for youth in Manipur and the north east as they are proficient in English; this would end forced out-migration and keep families united.
Medicinal plants and the immense biodiversity of the North-East are a valuable area of future progress, he said, where currently China has taken the lead though India with its knowledge of Ayurveda has vast potential. The bamboo industry is similarly ripe for the global market; horticulture-based industries and agro-processing industries should be the next stage of growth in the region, and its rich potential for tourism should no longer be neglected, he said, given the rich flora and fauna and scenic beauty.
In this context, the Gujarat Chief Minister said he once wrote to all Chief Ministers of the Northeastern States to send batches of 200 policewomen to Gujarat every two years on deputation. The State would take care of the hospitality, and the interaction generated by their presence in Gujarat would trigger tourism to the respective States. Claiming that his offer was still open, Narendra Modi said he conceived this with a view to promote national integration and regretted that no one responded to his letter.
Manipur, he said, to the delight of the audience, introduced the game of Polo to the British way back in 1854; its sportspersons excel in hockey, boxing and archery, and must be encouraged further. What the State badly needs is skill development and infrastructure development. Lamenting at the lack of progress on the National Highway 53 (latka pada hai), he promised that if given the mandate, he would complete the project, along with Silchar-Imphal and Dimapur-Imphal road links; the connectivity between Saurashtra to Silchar interested him most, he said, though the South Asian trans highway from Silchar to Myanmar must not be neglected. He thus showcased a mega-infrastructure development programme with the potential to transform the State and regional landscape.
Manipur, Narendra Modi reminded his audience, has the Krishna ras-leela in common with Gujarat, and Sri Krishna’s wife, Rukmini, hailed from the North-East. Saluting the rich cultural traditions of the region, he said Indian culture is not complete without the Manipur dance. Calling for an end to the terrible neglect of the region, Narendra Modi said that those who understand the science of vastu and are rooted in Indian culture know that the north-east, ishaan-kona, is the most auspicious portion that must be nurtured for the peace, progress and prosperity of the home, and this applies to the nation also.
Niticentral.com, 8 February 2014