Northeast organisations reject Centre's remedial committee

New Delhi: Representatives of several Northeastern organizations today rejected the committee formed by the Centre to suggest remedial measures to address their concerns and also criticized the Delhi government for not following up the promise made by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in this regard. [caption id=“attachment_1382587” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nido Taniam. PTI image[/caption] “The committee formed by the government of India was done without consultation of any civil society group, it consists of only retired bureaucrats, with no women member and hence we reject that committee and call upon its rectification,” D Apao from the Naga students Association told reporters here today. They also flayed the Delhi Government which had put the onus on them to form such a committee at the state level for not following up the announcement made by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “I would like to ask AAP people that why you put the onus on us. You always say that we will ask ‘Janta’ before doing this, doing that. Please take some decisions yourself as well,” said Pradyot Manikya Debbarma, Chairman of Royal Tripura foundation. While visiting the protesters at Jantar Mantar on February 4, Kejriwal had asked them to make a committee themselves and said that the government will endorse it. Batting for the enactment of a strong and comprehensive anti-racial law, Alana Golmei, Founding member of North East Support Centre said, “People argue that there is already the SC/ST Act to safeguard the rights of the people but let me tell you that there are a lot of people who don’t come under SC or ST in the Northeastern states.” “Also there are people from the South who get discriminated, what about them. We really need a strong anti-racism law to protect all these people and punish the perpetrators,” she said. They also demanded speedy justice for Nido Tania who was allegedly beaten to death by some shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar in South Delhi, the minor girl raped in Munirka on February 7 and all the northeastern people who were killed and raped and never got justice by putting their trials into fastrack courts. “Special Protection for Northeastern women in residential areas, malls, Spas, Call Centre and work places, strong action to be taken against Delhi Police for refusing to file FIR. Any police personnel who deny filing an FIR should be held accountable and suspended immediately,” said Apao. The groups also pitched for inclusion of the information of the history, cultural heritage and identity of Northeast India in the national curriculum such as NCERT, CBSE, UGC etc. The groups also said that the various state houses of the eight northeastern states should set up grievance cells like Embassies instead of merely be “dormitories and canteens”. “The Resident Commissioners should play a more proactive role where people in distress can come to seek help,” said Debbarma. He also pointed out the “poor leadership” provided by 24 Lok Sabha and 14 Rajya Sabha MPs, including the Prime Minister for failing to help their people in this regard. Speaking on the occasion, Binalakshmi Nepram, Founder of Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network said that there are 45 million people living in the eight northeastern states, five of them have been reeling under some sort of conflict. “Parents send their young men out of the conflict zone so that they are not harmed but if they are beaten to death on the streets of Delhi and Bangalore, this will be very unfortunate,” she said. Renowned international boxer, Shiva Thapa the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the London Olympics and who is ranked 3rd in the world in the bantamweight category, said that it saddens him that people from Delhi do not recognize northeastern people as their own. “We respect and love this country. Whenever I take part in a competition, the punch I pack on my opponent is for the billions of people back in the country,” he said. Thapa said that the authorities should set up a 24X7 helpline number for the northeastern people where they can call in case of any distress. PTI