The sight of assault weapons being paraded in a stolen police vehicle by masked youth waving black flags in Shillong on Sunday has been compared to the acts of the Taliban in Afghanistan by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) today.
AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the Narendra Modi government has pushed the North East into chaos but has tried to hide the problems that have surfaced of late.
Besides Meghalaya, the AICC chief also highlighted the conflict between Assam and Mizoram over their disputed border, differences with regards to the Naga peace talks and Chinese incursions in Arunachal Pradesh. All these pointed to a “completely indifferent, criminally aloof ‘hands-off-approach’” of the BJP government.
He described the breakdown of law and order in Meghalaya as “deeply distressing”, while referring to “gun-toting militants” waving black flags and “running amok” through Shillong. However, there is no proof that those who had stolen police weapons during the weekend’s violence are militants.
“While we see disturbing scenes in Afghanistan, the truth of the North East is being hidden by the government. When the Taliban brandish weapons, we can understand because it happens in Afghanistan. But a similar video of masked men brandishing AK-47 rifles on the streets of Shillong has surfaced. It is the abdication of duty by the government of India,” he said at a news conference in New Delhi.
Surjewala also referred to the lobbing of petrol bombs at the Chief Minister’s personal residence in Upper Shillong, curfew and internet shutdown, resignation of Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui and the pelting of stones at the convoy of Governor Satya Pal Malik yesterday (he was not in the convoy at the time). (With inputs from PTI)
