SHILLONG: Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), the banned militant outfit from the state, has asserted that if the Congress government in the state and the BJP government at the Centre were concerned over growing influx, they should send the Hindu refugees from Meghalaya and other parts of the Northeast back to where they came from.
HNLC publicity secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw said this in a press statement while reacting to claims that BJP would send the Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar.
According to him, the Northeast had witnessed the arrival of lakhs of refugees from East Pakistan. He claimed that over 8, 54,038 Bengali Hindu took refuge in Meghalaya, some of whom were registered while others were unregistered.
“At a time when the BJP is grappling with the issue of Rohingya refugees and intends to send them back to Myanmar, the government should send back the Hindu refugees as well,” Nongtraw said.
“If the central government cannot tackle the issue of illegal immigration, without a doubt, the North East, especially Meghalaya, will face violence worse than Direct Action Day 1946(Great Calcutta Killings),” he said.
Furthermore, he said the situation would be different even from that of the 1979, 1987 and 1992 riots. “If the government is indifferent to the influx issues, it won’t be long when the minority community will wrench the country Tiger’s tail.
Voicing opposition to the issue of illegal immigration, Nongtraw said the tribals don’t want an integrated society and the integration with India. Taking a dig at the Indian armed forces, he said, “The soldiers who are to be protectors of the country and its people have in turn protected the politician’s position.”
Nongtraw argued that had the soldiers held on to their laws, the government in India would have been ousted through a military coup. He also reacted to the comments of the Brigadier Amrit Lal, who stated that there were threats from HNLC and Liberation A’chik Elite Force (LAEF) which prompted the imposition of restrictions to civilians in certain pockets of the city.
