NEW DELHI, Feb 8: The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has raised questions over the proposed laying of the foundation stone for the greenfield airport project in Hollongi in Arunachal Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 February.
Addressing media persons at Arunachal House here on Friday, APCC president Takam Sanjoy said “the greenfield airport project has not been in reality sanctioned by the union civil aviation ministry. The exact official status is that it has been passed by the Project Investment Board of the GoI only, and has not gone through the process of sanction at all.”
Questioning how the PM could lay the foundation of a project “without the sanction of the GoI and its related agencies,” Sanjoy also claimed that the land compensation of Rs 175 crore disbursed so far was from the coffers of the Arunachal government, whereas, as
per the rule, land compensation has to be given by the Centre.
“All these anomalies point to the desperation of the NDA government to prove a point with hollow intentions for Arunachal Pradesh, marked by mere tokenism and not substance,” Sanjoy said.
The APCC president also said the NDA government had “hijacked the popularly elected Congress government in Arunachal by misusing the institution of the governor, manipulating a majority on the floor of the assembly, and finally culminating in the death of senior political leader Kalikho Pul.
“Late Pul’s suicide is nothing but an indirect political murder of a leader of Arunachal Pradesh by the BJP and its national leaders, including the PM and Amit Shah,” Sanjoy said.
He said the Congress MLAs of the state were lured into the BJP’s fold with tall promises of development funds, “but today neither a single promise has been fulfilled nor a single penny for development has flown into their constituencies.”
Sanjoy said the Congress party and representatives of various NGOs and civil society bodies will observe the day of Modi’s visit to Arunachal as “black day” in protest against “his gross failure to bring development to the state during his tenure, which is nearing its end.”
Describing the citizenship amendment bill (CAB) as “the most draconian law of the century,” Sanjoy said the protest would be significant as the PM visits the state against the backdrop of growing angst against the CAB.
“The CAB has to be stopped anyhow to protect the interests of Arunachal Pradesh, lest it escalates into a situation beyond control,” the APCC chief said, adding that the bill nullified the provisions of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873, and the Chin Hills Regulation Act, 1896.
Sanjoy further said while successive Congress governments at the Centre tried to nurture, strengthen and further the tribal aspirations of Arunachal, “the Modi government, for its petty political gains, has introduced the CAB, which is in direct violation of the 6th Schedule of the constitution of India.”
Sanjoy added: “A mistake of this magnitude will put generations into destruction, and will give easy licence to refugees, foreigners and illegal migrants.”
