‘Citizenship bill will not hurt Northeast’
MODI VISIT PM inaugurates projects in Assam, Arunachal, Tripura
CHANGSARI/AGARTALA/ITANGAR/ NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday assured the people of Assam, and the rest of the Northeast, that the citizenship bill will in no way cause harm to their interests.
Addressing a public rally in Assam’s Changsari, he said the NDA government is committed to protecting the language, culture, resources, hopes and aspirations of the people of Assam and the Northeast.
“It is a national commitment to the people of the Northeast that they will not be harmed in any way and citizenship will be only granted after due investigation and recommendation of the state governments,” Modi said.
It must be understood that there is a difference between those who forcefully entered the country and those who were “forced to flee their homes to save their lives due to their faith. Both are not the same”, he added.
The government wants to make Assam the oil and gas hub of the country and in the last four years projects worth ₹14,000 crore have been completed, he said. The PM peppered his speech with sentences in Assam- ese, paid rich tributes to the state’s icons Srimanata Sankardeva, Madhavdeva, Azan Fakir, Chaolung Sukapha, Lachit Barphukan, Gopinath Bordoloi and Bhupen Hazarika. He said the previous governments “failed” to honour these icons.
Modi inaugurated several projects in various districts of Assam.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the PM laid foundation stone of projects worth over ₹4,000 crore and said his government was giving a lot of importance to improve connectivity in the sensitive border state. Addressing a function in Itanagar, he termed the state the “pride” of the country, adding it is the gateway to the nation as it guards the frontier.
In Tripura, he hit out at the opposition, saying it seems they were all competing in an Olympics of hurling abuses at him.
Calling t he opposition a ‘mahamilawat’ (great adulteration), he said its leaders are only