Newmai News Network
IMPHAL, February 7
Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has brushed
aside BJP’s unconditional apology on the contentious 'immigrants' tagwhile demanding a “written apology” from Prime Minister NarendraModi.
MPCC president and deputy chief minister Gaikhangam saidthat terming Northeast people as 'immigrants' in the vision documentreleased by BJP ahead of Delhi Assembly elections was not a mistakebut a sinister design of the saffron party to create unrest in theregion.
A national party like BJP with a good number of intellectuals cannotcommit such a mistake. The party has “intentionally” use the word to refer the people of Northeast, he said, dismissing the unconditionalapology from the BJP.Terming BJP as a problem creator in the region, the Congress chiefreminded the infamous Bangkok Declaration in 2001 in which BJP led NDAgovernment had agreed to extend the ceasefire with NSCN(IM) “withoutterritorial limit” that burnt Manipur.
This time, the party was trying to create a big problem in the entireNortheastern region, Gaikhangam said, asserting that the release of thedocument came up at a time when racial discrimination against
Northeasters was continuing in various cities of the country,particularly in Delhi.
Maintaining that people of the region were also the citizens of thecountry, the deputy chief minister said, it was an insult to thepeople of the region. The matter was not taken lightly by the Congressparty, he added.
Congress will not accept the apology unless a written unless a writtenapology came up from the Prime Minister, the MPCC president said whilebriefing to media after a sit-in-protest in front of the Imphal’sCongress Bhavan.
All India Youth Congress, Manipur State Committee organized theprotest to register a strong condemnation to the use of the term‘immigrant’ in the BJP Vision Document released ahead of the Delhiassembly elections.Calling people of Northeastern states as 'immigrants' in the BJPvision document released for Delhi Assembly elections was highly condemnable, Congress workers participating in the protest said while demanding a written apology from the Prime Minister.
The Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee has already reacted through theAICC against the statement made by the BJP. The party might made the error while discussing the welfare of the people from the NE states but such error in the party’s vision document revealed how the NE people are still sub-consciously treated by the BJP as people from outside the country, they lamented.
The BJP’s tag only made matters worse as for the last several years, racial discrimination has been continued against the people from the
Northeast, they claimed. Many leaders including ministers and legislatures of the ruling Congress participated in the protest criticized the BJP alleging the saffron party treated people of the region as immigrant. Commerce and industries minister Govindas Konthoujam accused the BJP of treating the people of the region as immigrants in their own country. MPYCC president Amir Hussain said the use of the word immigrant must be condemned by one and all.
