KOKRAJHAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will not have any effect on the people of Assam or other parts of the North East.
“Some forces are spreading rumours in Assam and North East with full force that the people, who get citizenship under the CAA, will come here to settle. I assure the people of Assam that nothing like this will happen,” said the Prime Minister, while addressing an event organised to celebrate the Bodo agreement with the Centre.
“I am fully aware of your aspirations, your happiness, and sorrows. Just as all the illusions are finished, all the demands, the companions associated with the Bodo society have come together. I hope all the illusions of other people will soon be over,” he said.
“Earlier, the states of North East were looked upon as seekers of help. Today, they are considered as growth-engines for development. Earlier, this region was thought to be far from Delhi. Today, Delhi is very close to you and hears you with care,” he said.
It was also the first visit of the Prime Minister since Assam and other parts of the region witnessed anti-CAA protests.
“Political parties used to ignore revolts, blockades and violent protests. They just contained them but never solved them. This approach had pushed the people of North East so far that they had stopped believing in democracy,” he said.
Modi said the entire issue of North East was serious and the BJP-led government worked on it with a new approach.
“We understood the aspirations and emotional context of different regions of the North East. We conversed with them and made them feel one of our own. This has helped us reduce extremism. Earlier, there were about 1,000 killings in the North East due to extremism but today the situation is normal,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) has been withdrawn from several regions in the North East after the BJP-led government came to power at the Centre in 2014.
“Before we came to power, most states in the North East were under the armed forces. After we came to power, most regions of Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh are free from the AFSPA,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the people were afraid of coming here at one point of time. “In the North East, thousands of people became refugees in their own country due to violence. They are now being given new facilities to settle here with full respect and dignity,” Modi said. (ANI)
