Modi govt failed in protecting people in northeastern states: Cong Assam MP

Assam Congress lawmaker Ripun Bora raps centre, saying it has failed to protect the civilians. He also said the government should repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, as has been demanded by the people of the region.

New Delhi: Congress MP and Assam Congress Committee president Ripun Bora on Tuesday criticised the Narendra Modi Government, saying the centre has failed to protect lives and property of people in the north-eastern areas of the country.

"The government has failed to protect the civilians. It has, in fact, made false claims that the insurgency in Northeast has come down drastically," Assam Congress lawmaker told the ETV Bharat.

Bora said as many as 382 civilians and 510 extremists lost their lives in 2546 insurgency-related incidents since 2014.

Talking about the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the Congress leader said the government should repeal it as people from the region have been demanding the same
for a long time.

"In the name of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the security forces torture the civilians...I have also raised the demand to repeal the Act in the Parliament," said Bora.

In the past five months, 16 civilians were killed in the region, he added, quoting the government records.

The worst insurgency affected states in the region are - Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland. Manipur 1084, Meghalaya 415, Nagaland 318 and Assam witnessed 475 insurgency-related incidents since 2014 till May this year, according to the record.