Mukul Sangma seeks for change in mind barrier regarding NE
Source: The Sangai Express
Shillong, December 23, 2013:
Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma today sought for a break in the 'mind barrier' that often alienated the region from the rest of the country.
"The Nation will weaken if this part of the country remained vulnerable to all kinds of conflicts because of various factors inherent to this part and which are basically because offshoot of the partition linked to history..." Mukul Sangma said while addressing a youth summit here.
Seven States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura are connected to the country through a "chicken neck corridor" squeezed between Nepal and Bangladesh.
"If the region is weak it will enfeeble the Nation," the Chief Minister said adding that there is an urgent need to understand the people of this region, their problems and weaknesses, by all policy makers.
"We have completely different ways of life� the way we eat, the way we dress and the way we live...
Knowing this will help the Nation and knowing this will help break the mind barrier that tends to create a sense of alienation to our people within the country," Mukul said.
"We are part of the Nation.
We are capable of growing and contributing to the growth and prosperity of our country though the region's population is microscopic as compared to the 1.2 billion people living in India.
"There are wonderful talents are around.
All we need is for people to travel to this part of the country and making people know that a place like Shillong exists..." he said.
Stating that Meghalaya and the rest of the region have suffered badly after the partition in the 70s when Bangladesh was created, Mukul Sangma said the per capita income of the people of the region is higher than the national per capital income post-Independence and pre-partition.
"Today it was just the reverse and we need to reverse it again...." he said.