EVER since Lord Dalhousie laid the permanent way in the 1840s-50s, trains have been a major connecting link unifying India. The Centre’s plan to subsidize train tours to the Northeast for school children is a commendable idea. Students from Delhi can now be familiar with names like Dibrugarh, Itanagar, Dimapur, Tezpur and Lumding and not just memorize them from their geography books. The Northeast has been terra incognita for most people in mainland India since the Ahom dynasty ruled Assam. This has also alienated Northeastern people recently causing a spate of murder and rape of Northeastern youth in Delhi and other metropolises. It began with the exodus from Bangalore in 2012 when hundreds of Northeastern students rushed back to their home in panic as a result of a cell phone message. The government has been slack in dealing with the problem. Following the killing in Delhi of Nido Tania, an Arunachal student, the Bezbaruah Committee submitted its report in July, which suggested legislation against discrimination, setting up of fast track courts and police squads to tackle such xenophobic crimes. But the Committee report does not go to the root of the problem. The Northeast’s alienation emanates from history. Distance and distrust separate it as also the ethnic difference of its people. Interaction with it is a tough job.
The subsidized scheme for children’s Northeastern tour is stymied by infrastructural problems. It was in April that Itanagar became the second state capital to be connected by rail, the first being Guwahati. This year’s Union Budget set apart funds for seven new trains to the region and inside it. Speedy implementation of such projects is of great importance. These trains will build a cultural bridge and also promote tourism and economic opportunities in the region. That will redress the Northeast’s grievances to a large extent.
