Militants in North-East greatest destabilisers: Rijiju

Describing the militants in the North-Eastern states as the "greatest destabilisers", Union Minister Kiren Rijiju today called upon them to shun violence, which he said was the only factor holding back the progress of the region.
"I am directly sending messages to the militants that if you are thinking of taking up arms and achieve something you are wrong. You are causing harm to your own people and you are the greatest destabiliser.
"You are a trouble for your own region, not other region," the Minister of State for Home Affairs said while addressing students at Lady Sri Ram College for Women here.

Appealing for peace, the minister said that violence is the only factor that is holding back the progress of the region, which otherwise has everything that could make it a great destination of India.
"North East is really beautiful region. Once we remove the violence from the region I can tell you it is the place to be. Only thing is we need to secure the place and once peace prevails prosperity will follow," he said.
Rijiju, who was at the Delhi University college to inaugurate a day-long event 'Understanding Diversity' focusing on the North-East, said that he is immensely proud to be an Indian but also acknowledged the fact that there are certain things in the country which need to be corrected.

"The North East region of India is home to almost 46 million people, which makes it nearly the same size as Germany, but it looks small because our country is enormous and the population density is immense," he said.

The minister compared the number of Parliament members from the North East to the number from UP and Maharashtra and said that the number of MPs from the region is relatively less because despite the geographical size, the population is very scattered.
"Delhi is the heart of the nation, but a country begins from the borders. There is nothing called mainstream - wherever I stand, wherever I live, that is mainstream for me. People say that the North East should join the mainstream, but that is conceptually wrong because every part of the country is mainstream," he said.

Addressing the issue of violence and conflict politics in the North East, the minister said,"we must take responsibility for it in some sense."
"If we fail to elect right people at the right time, we must take part of the blame. The character of the politician, after all, is a reflection of the society he belongs to," he said.