LS condemns attacks on people from NE region

Emphasised that all the people and children from the Northeast are protected

Lok Sabha today condemned the attacks and harassment of people from the Northeast in various parts of the country in the wake of the killing of a boy from Arunachal Pradesh in Delhi and said a message should go out that they should be protected.

"The entire House condemns the death of young boy (Nido Taniam from Arunachal Pradesh). A clear message should go to the entire country that Parliament wants that all the people and children from the Northeast are protected," Speaker Meira Kumar said after members raised the issue.

Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj referred to the death of Taniam and the harassment of two women in Delhi in the recent past and said people across the country should be sensitised about their counterparts from the Northeastern states. "If Ganga, Yamuna is part of India, so is Brahmaputra," she said.

Swaraj, who spoke amidst continued din over Telangana, said after the riots in Kokrajhar in Assam last year, people from the Northeast had to return home from various parts of the country because of harassment.

"Parliament had then issued an appeal to them that India is yours, don't go. We will provide you protection," she said.

Swaraj also took a dig at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, without naming them, saying representatives of the state government and the Centre, which are responsible for providing protection to people, joined the students from the region at their sit-in here.

She said every BJP member would protect people of the Northeast living in their neighbourhood.