A Correspondent
SHILLONG: The chairman of The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance, also known as TIPRA Motha, Pradyot Debbarma, has said that the biggest problem the northeast is facing is infiltration.
"An unstable Bangladesh will allow, with the open borders that we have, a threat to our future and our survival. If the government of India needs to protect the indigenous people of the northeast, they will have to give us land rights and economic power, and they will have to constitutionally protect us," Debbarma said.
He said that with the open borders with Bangladesh, the indigenous people of the northeast are under immediate threat (from the current situation in the neighbouring country).
The TIPRA Motha chief said that India's entire strategy on Bangladesh is based on one family-that of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman-even as he added that today the family is no longer relevant there and India's plan B has to be to protect its own people first rather than give asylum and allow people from that country to crossover here and flood the indigenous population.
Deb Barma said that the northeast is the frontline of the country, and if these areas are besieged by people from Bangladesh, how will India be protected?
"It is not only the protection of our people. If India needs to be protected, they have to first protect the people on the frontlines. Who are the people on the frontlines? The Bodos, the Khasis, the Tripuris, the Garos, the Jaintia, and the Karbis. We are Indians; first protect us, then think about protecting people from Bangladesh, and if India wants to be secure, then they have to trust their own citizens before allowing people to come in," he said.
The TIPRA Motha chief said that the government must have a policy wherein it empowers the indigenous people of the region not only constitutionally but also financially, through education, and gives them rights, economic independence, and political freedom as well to decide what is right and what is wrong.
Also Watch: