By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Feb 16: The Hynniewtrep Youths Council (HYC) has condemned state Congress president Vincent H Pala’s recent statement that the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya is “fully secured” and that prevailing fears of illegal influx are largely “perceptual.”
HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem in a statement said Pala’s remarks were “dangerously disconnected from ground realities” and cautioned him against making claims that undermine the concerns of indigenous communities.
Synrem said Pala is not the spokesperson of Meghalaya government or central government and as such, should refrain from “defending the indefensible” on such a sensitive issue. “Such statements do not put him or his party in a good light before the indigenous people of the state,” the HYC president said.
He maintained that describing fears of illegal infiltration as “perceptual” amounts to disregarding the lived experiences of border residents.
He alleged that communities living along the porous stretches of the India-Bangladesh border have been for long witnessing continuous illegal crossings, document frauds involving Aadhaar and voter identity cards, encroachment of forest and community lands, and increasing demographic pressure.
“If the border is truly fully secured, why do repeated seizures, arrests and deportations of illegal infiltrators take place? Why do border residents and civil society organisations continue to raise alarms? Why do security agencies themselves acknowledge the porous nature of certain stretches?” Synrem asked.
He further alleged that statements downplaying indigenous concerns could embolden infiltration networks and weaken public confidence in border management. “Dismissing the fears of indigenous people as perceptual is nothing but gaslighting communities who are fighting for the survival of their land, identity and political rights,” the HYC president said.
He asked Pala who benefits from declaring the border fully secured when ground reports suggest otherwise and whether such remarks are an attempt to politically sanitise a serious national security and indigenous survival issue.
On Sunday, Pala asserted that there is no cause for alarm in Meghalaya despite heightened political debate over developments in Bangladesh and fears about a possible influx of people into the states in the Northeast. Meghalaya shares a 443 km border with Bangladesh.
Pala had maintained that apprehensions regarding insecurity are more perceptual than factual and emphasised the broader diplomatic context, noting that India and Bangladesh share friendly relations. Acknowledging that isolated voices may attempt to create anxiety, he said the larger population across the border values good neighbourly ties.
The Congress leader had further stated that security along the frontier is not the responsibility of armed forces alone but a collective effort, involving the Army, Border Security Force, state machinery and border residents. He had stressed that there is no prevailing problem along Meghalaya’s international border and cautioned against allowing fear to shape public perception in the absence of concrete threats.
