By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Aug 31: The Congress has cautioned the state government not to ignore reports of educated youths joining militant outfits by treating them as routine intelligence inputs, warning that such “trigger points” could destabilise Meghalaya if brushed aside.
Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) secretary Manuel Badwar said Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma was “very wrong” to downplay the issue as one of the many intelligence inputs the state receives. “It’s a very serious matter…more serious than anything else,” Badwar asserted.
He said that leaving such threats unattended would place the state at grave risk. “If society is supposed to be developed, then society has to ensure that these trigger points are being checked. And if you let go of these trigger points and just brush it off as something unimportant, then I believe that there’s a lot at stake for the state as a whole,” he warned.
Badwar pointed to Meghalaya’s weaknesses in education, employment, human development and economic opportunities as fertile ground for discontent. “We are very weak in every aspect…politicians should take it a lot more seriously and don’t wait for it till the last minute, when it becomes a lot more difficult,” he said.
Welcoming the admission by DGP Idashisha Nongrang that new recruitment attempts are indeed under way, Badwar said, “Her admittance is very good because then it throws a lot of light to a lot of people. And I think as a society, we need to look at it very seriously. Politicians should play that role even more important than anybody else.”
The Congress leader further underlined Meghalaya’s poor human development index, among the worst in the country, as proof of a “pathetic” quality of life in both urban and rural areas.
He said the lack of educational access and jobs had created deep frustration among youths, now visible in reports of them joining insurgent groups.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Mukul Sangma had also voiced concern that several qualified youths have already completed militant training, blaming the government’s indifference for fuelling resentment among the educated unemployed. He had warned that silence in the face of such alarming developments could spark a resurgence of militancy.
Following this, DGP Nongrang confirmed that rebel outfits are attempting to regroup. “We have reports of new recruitment, but we don’t know about its scale and who exactly these people are who are being recruited and which group is being formed again,” she said, adding that details remain sketchy but the matter is under close watch.
The chief minister, meanwhile, maintained that while intelligence inputs cannot be ignored, they must undergo strict verification before any conclusions can be drawn.
He pointed to changing dynamics in neighbouring Bangladesh as a factor that required constant vigilance.
