Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 19
There should not be a feeling that the Indo-Naga peace talks are protracted … the objective is to bring peace, said National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval while interacting with cross sections of the northeastern community at the Young Leaders Connect (YLC) conclave in New Delhi on Saturday.
Doval said, “The peace process is a means to an end and if there is an end, which is a desired end, it must be found in real time.”
The Young Leader Connect conclave which was held at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi got a surprise but pleasant invasion from one of the most important and powerful persons in the country.
The NSA participated in the conclave accompanied by RN Ravi, the Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) and Interlocutor of the Indo-Naga peace talks along with Delhi Police chief and his deputy.
The NSA made these statements when Naga BJP MLA Mhunlumo Kikon, who was also one of the panel speakers, put the question to Doval and Ravi. Kikon wanted to know the position of the Indo-Naga peace process vis-à-vis the government of India which said the peace talks would be taken up on a time bound manner and what was the approach of the Centre in bringing the decades-old talks to its logical conclusion.
Though Doval was not specific on the matter, he said, “There should be rule of law in Naga areas for which the peace process must be completed as early as possible.”
India’s junior minister for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju was also in the audience. Doval and Ravi entered the conclave after Rijiju had delivered the keynote address and completed a session of interaction with the audience.
Doval also said he had discussed the matter of the racial hate crimes against the north eastern people with the Prime Minister the previous evening. He stated that the ‘PM is very concerned and pained’ with the incidents. He noted that every citizen of the Northeast is an asset to the nation.
Earlier, the conclave’s first panel discussion addressed the matter of hate crimes, racial discrimination and attack upon the northeastern people in mainland India. This discussion continued with the NSA and the Delhi Police chief taking questions from the audience. A number of women, scholars and students vocally stated that they face discrimination, racial abuse, sexual abuse and insults everyday of their lives in Delhi.
Why is it so difficult to lodge an FIR in Delhi,” asked Mona Arthur while another scholar in JNU stated that ‘we are called prostitutes, chinky, momo’ and openly groped by mainland Indians regularly. She said this conduct and behaviour was not only with lower strata of people like auto drivers and street vendors but also by educated and well to do persons belonging to good backgrounds driving luxury cars.
“They think and conduct themselves as if every Mongoloid looking woman is a prostitute available for a price,” another JNU scholar said. “We are not made to feel like Indian citizens in our own country,” another woman activist rued.
In conclusion, the Delhi Police chief assured that a separate seminar would be organised by the Delhi Police with the people of northeastern region to discuss and address the issues of discrimination and racial abuse.
