Women from northeast tie rakhi on jawans posted in Jammu and Kashmir

Guwahati: On the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, women from the Northeast Indian region of India tied rakhi on jawans of the armed and paramilitary forces deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, on Sunday.

The programme was organised under the initiative of Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh as a show of solidarity and bonding.

Self-help groups (SHGs) from the eight North-Eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim also sent rakhis, tricoloured bands and face masks to the Army and paramilitary personnel posted in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, an official statement said.

The initiative will strengthen the inherent bond among the various cultures, states and people of the country, it added.

Speaking on the occasion, Singh said Jammu and Kashmir is "my parliamentary constituency and the northeast is my official constituency".

Given that the Northeastern region is a part of Singh's ministerial responsibilities, he took this occasion as an opportunity to be able to connect the two peripheral regions of the country, the minister added.

A rakhi for a soldier in Jammu and Kashmir or Ladakh from the Northeast is a message that sisters across the country are praying for the safety of their brothers in the security forces, who in turn are guarding the borders day and night for their safety, the minister said.

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