SHILLONG, Nov 24: Congress MP from Tura constituency, Saleng A. Sangma, has called upon the chief ministers and parliamentarians of the eight Northeastern states to cut across party lines and jointly address pressing issues beleaguering the region, such as the ongoing crisis at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) and the turmoil in Manipur.
Airing concern over the sorry state of affairs, Sangma said the central government seems indifferent to the challenges in the region and the lives of its people.
“It seems they (Centre) don’t care about the lives of Northeast people. Look at Manipur—many lives have been lost, but the issue remains unaddressed. Similarly, regarding NEHU, they are not bothered. That’s why we are urging all MPs from the North-East to unite over these and other concerns,” Sangma said.
He emphasised the need for a collective approach. “I believe the state government and chief ministers from all Northeastern states should work together and address this situation seriously. Otherwise, the mainland won’t bother about the North East. We should always be together in any situation in the Northeast,” Sangma said.
On the NEHU crisis, Sangma revealed that a formal letter has been sent to President Droupadi Murmu, highlighting the university’s problems.
Informing that he has raised the matter with the Law Minister and other MPs from the Northeast, Sangma said that discussions regarding the NEHU crisis have been held as part of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Grievances, Law and Justice.
It may be mentioned that only recently, students of NEHU in Tura had submitted a joint representation to the Tura MP, urging him to address the crisis prevailing in the university.
Meanwhile, in a letter to the President, Sangma sought her immediate intervention to address the grievances of the NEHU community. He called for the removal of Vice-Chancellor Prabha Shankar Shukla to meet the expectations of students, faculty and the local community.
“In light of this ongoing crisis, I join the NEHU community in respectfully requesting your immediate intervention to review these grievances comprehensively and take appropriate steps to address the leadership challenges at NEHU,” he stated in a letter to the President.
