GUWAHATI, March 25 � Members of the North East Students� Organization (NESO) today staged demonstration in front of the Raj Bhawans of the seven States of the region and submitted memorandum to the Prime Minister through the Governors of the States demanding detection and deportation of foreign nationals from the region. The NESO also demanded that special constitutional status should be given to the North East with right over land and natural resources.
In Guwahati, members of the NESO staged a demonstration in front of the Raj Bhawan and sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister through Governor JB Patnaik.
Talking to The Assam Tribune after the demonstration, NESO adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said that the NESO would not allow the region to become breeding ground of the foreign nationals and elements of the fundamentalist groups. He said that the foreigners living in the region should be detected and deported immediately and the international border with Bangladesh should be sealed. The NESO is of the view that the Government of India should take steps to prepare National Register of Citizens (NRC) in all the States of the region.
The NESO is of the view that the Government of India was adopting discriminatory attitude towards the region and the border with Bangladesh was not given due importance as was done in case with the border with Pakistan. The infiltration of foreigners along with elements of fundamentalist forces not only posed a threat to the identity of the indigenous people of the region, but also to the sovereignty of the country, but unfortunately, the Centre failed to show seriousness in dealing with the problem, while the concerned State governments also failed to show sincerity in this regard. The NESO has also opposed the land swapping deal with Bangladesh and demanded that it should be scrapped immediately.
The NESO demanded that the States of the region should get special constitutional status with right over land and natural resources as the economic condition of the indigenous people of the region has not improved over the years despite the fact that the region has abundance of natural resources.
