, a nascent Khasi militant outfit in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region, Lyngdoh told reporters that the phenomenon of armed insurgency or militancy has died down in the region itself and any attempt to revive it in any form in the state would be a very misguided attempt. ){kind=link}
SHILLONG:
Tourism minister and United Democratic Party (UDP) leader Paul Lyngdoh has said that armed insurgency and drug trafficking is a dangerous mix and have proved to be damaging to society.
Referring to the recent crackdown on the National Liberation Council of Nongkyndong (NLCN), a nascent Khasi militant outfit in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region, Lyngdoh told reporters that the phenomenon of armed insurgency or militancy has died down in the region itself and any attempt to revive it in any form in the state would be a very misguided attempt.
“(It is also) an attempt at sabotaging the interest of the very people that these groups try to claim to represent and stand for,” he said.
Appealing to youngsters not to be misguided and not to fall prey to the malicious propaganda of such forces, Lyngdoh said, “We also perhaps realised that armed groups and the drugs scene go hand in hand. So it is a very lethal and very dangerous mix because once you have armed groups and there is spurt in narcotics then the two can prove to be absolutely damaging to not only this present generation but to the future generations.”
Stating that unemployment cannot be an excuse for anybody to take to arms or drugs or such illegal activities, the minister said, “In fact, the more violence you have, the more will be the level and the index of poverty. Unemployment is also caused because when you have spurt in violence which such groups can trigger. This is a defeatist mentality.”
“Today the government has opened up tourism in a huge way, we have seen the prime tourism vehicle scheme, we have seen 1000 homestay projects – these are all for whose benefit? I urge the youths to take advantage of these schemes and not to be misled into wrong ideology,” he added further.
Citing neighbouring Assam as an example, the UDP leader said that the state for several decades experienced groups like the ULFA and NDFB but subsequently, they all failed in not only their purpose but also it was proved to be counterproductive.
“Today, Assam is on a growth trajectory like has never been seen in the past. All this was possible because the insurgency was contained, controlled and subsequently, it died down,” he said.