‘Militancy result of socio-economic problem’

SHILLONG: Militancy is not a problem but the outcome of several socio-economic factors and can be mitigated in the long run, said Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Friday.
Pointing out that there was dearth of policies to rectify the socio-economic fallacies, the chief minister said if youths do not have opportunity, they are misguided towards the wrong direction. “We always take militancy as a problem, but militancy is not a problem as it is only the outcome. The problem is socio-economic. If we have policies to take care of the socio-economic problems, militancy will go down though not immediately but in the long run,” he added.Sangma was speaking at the International Inter-disciplinary Seminar on ‘Human Resource Development in South Asia: capabilities, challenges and prospects’, held at Synod College on Friday.
He pointed out that militancy is also a challenge that the state is facing that can change with a focus on human resource development.
Eight GNLA cadres surrendered recently following the death of the outfit’s chief, Sohan D Shira, though ULFA’s self-styled deputy commander-in-chief Drishti Rajkhowa is rumoured to be assisting GNLA.