Initiate talks with insurgent groups, NE states urge Centre

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9: Legislators of the seven northeastern states on Thursday urged the Centre to immediately initiate a dialogue with insur...

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9: Legislators of the seven northeastern states on Thursday urged the Centre to immediately initiate a dialogue with insurgent groups in the region "in the larger interest of unity and integrity of the country".

The appeal came in a resolution passed at a conference of the North-East Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association which concluded in Shillong on Thursday afternoon. The conference was attended by 96 legislators from the northeastern states, including MPs, and was inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi.

The legislators spoke emotionally about the atmosphere of distrust between the North-East and the rest of the country and stressed that unless this gulf is bridged, the region cannot be integrated into the mainstream. Two MPs in particular, Arun Kumar Sharma of the AGP and P R Kyndiah, who is chairman of the NE MPs Forum, stressed that the people of the region are against secessionist tendencies but are at a loss on how to convince the rest of the country about this.

The conference held that the chasm between the North-East and the heartland can only be narrowed by economic development. In this context, the participants felt that unless the Centre initiates a dialogue with insurgent groups to co-opt them, the region cannot develop and prosper.