Calls for repeal of AFSPA
SHILLONG: Refusing to accept that terming the people from Northeast as “immigrants” in the BJP’s vision document for Delhi Assembly elections was a “clerical error”, NESO chairman Samuel Jyrwa said that the Saffron party-led government at the Centre should repeal draconian acts like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) if it is truly committed to the well being of the people of the region.
“The enforcement of AFSPA in the various parts of the North Eastern region is a proof that the national political parties consider the people of the region as outsiders,” Jyrwa said on Wednesday.
“The Union Government has not enforced AFSPA in states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand where the situation is worse. This clearly reflects the step-motherly treatment towards the North East people,” Jyrwa said adding that calling the people from the Northeast immigrants depicts the “thinking process” of a party like the BJP.
Meanwhile, KSU president Daniel Khriem has demanded that the BJP should tender a public apology on the ‘immigrants’ remark.
“We do not accept the arguments of the party that it was only a S’clerical error’. This portrays the attitude and mindset that they have towards the people from North East,” Khyriem said.