Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Dr Mukul Sangma on Tuesday called for a collective approach to maintaining peace and law and order across the Northeast, warning that incidents of obstruction, physical barriers and lawlessness on the Jorabat-Khanapara corridor risk damaging the image of the entire region. He said the Northeast must be viewed as “one entity” and cautioned that any negative incident in one State is increasingly perceived beyond its immediate geographical context, affecting the region’s prospects for investment, tourism and wider economic engagement. Dr Sangma’s remarks came amid concerns over people allegedly standing on roads in Meghalaya and obstructing incoming vehicles, saying such acts must be stopped and the law enforced without allowing individuals to take it upon themselves to regulate movement.
“It has become necessary to follow it up with utmost sense of responsibility and I would say that it is not only my responsibility but it should be considered as a collective responsibility of all concern because You have to look at Northeast as one entity,” Dr Sangma said.
He said the region had spent decades trying to build a common identity and market the Northeast as a destination for tourism, investment and other opportunities. Any incident that creates a negative perception of one State, he argued, has the potential to adversely affect the entire region.
“You see, we have tried to Market Northeast over a declades,” he said, recalling his interactions with representatives of foreign missions and consulates to highlight the adverse impact of negative coverage of incidents in the region.
“I have also had an engagement with all the emissaries representing various embassies, Various consulates, and try to bring to their notice as to how, many a time, any negative thing that happens in any part of the Northeast is carried by national media, and that becomes a reason for the various Embassies to give advisory to the people who are looking at Northeast, so it doesn’t help any state when we engage in naming and shaming any of the states of North East,” Dr Sangma said.
“Yes, It doesn’t help. We, as North East, have to come together. We must realize the strength of our own diversity, the collective strength,” he added.
Dr Sangma said the collective strength of the Northeast could not be projected effectively if individual States were viewed in isolation. A negative perception of one State, he said, could quickly translate into a broader perception of the entire region.
“This strength cannot be considered strong enough if it is segregated and shown in isolation, because people from other parts of the country forget about other parts of the world, even from other parts of the country. If something happens in any of the northeastern states, if any Negative image of any of the North Eastern state is painted, they look at Northeast as ‘no no going area’s,” he said.
“This is what has happened,” he added.
Referring to the turmoil in Manipur, Dr Sangma said the consequences of a prolonged law-and-order crisis can extend well beyond the State where it occurs, affecting perceptions of the Northeast among potential investors, tourists and others.
“In fact, after that unfortunate turmoil that we witness in respect of Manipur, People who are looking at NorthEast suddenly, had a U turn,” he said.
“Yes, Whether they were looking at Northeast for investment, whether they were looking at Northeast to promote as a destination favored destination for tourism,” he said.
“So, this is what is reality,” he added.
Against this backdrop, Dr Sangma said political and administrative discourse should avoid “naming and shaming” individual States and instead focus on ensuring that law-and-order concerns are addressed through the established legal framework.
“Therefore, by naming and shaming and engaging in these things, we must avoid this, Law in order problem We have to bring it to the notice of the states and see how the states take upon themselves the responsibility of dealing with anybody,” he said.
He stressed that lawlessness could not be encouraged or allowed to become normalised, warning that failure to enforce existing laws could embolden individuals and groups to take the law into their own hands.
“Lawlessness as such Cannot be encouraged Because If we allow the circumstances which is perceived and which is constitute as encouragement that it will embolden, and this does not auger well for a civilized Society,” Dr Sangma said.
He said challenges to law and order are not new and would continue to emerge, but the responsibility of dealing with them rests with the government and the established institutions rather than individuals.
“Because You have seen in the past. Problems will always be there. We will always be confronted by that kind of situation where maintaining the law and Order can become a challenging for the authorities. It is nothing new. It is going to be there. It has been there. It will be there, but how we deal with this, with the utmost sense of power comprehension of the complexities associated with this problem Must be left to the government,” he said.
Dr Sangma said the government must ensure that enforcement of law does not become an informal exercise undertaken by individuals or groups, warning that allowing such practices could create an environment where anyone feels entitled to enforce their own version of law.
“And government must see that others are not given the kind of It’s anybody’s Kind of. As though it’ is Everybody’s business to enforce law, as though anybody can take law into their own hand and get away,” he said.
“That’s not how You ensure order in a state. It will only Create an environment for lawlessness and chaos, And it doesn’t paint a good picture of the whole North Eastern Region,” he added.
Dr Sangma said the immediate need was to create deterrence by enforcing the provisions of law consistently so that individuals understood the limits of legitimate protest and dissent.
“Therefore, You have to Create a deterrence. How do you create a deterence by enforcing provision of the law that exist,So that everybody knows, okay, what is my limit?” he said.
“I can voice my concern. I can voice my Disapproval, but then I can’t take my the law into my own hand, And jeopardise is the whole order Subjecting The people of one particular State into such a kind of distressing situation agonising situation,” he said.
He also warned that such incidents could acquire a communal dimension if misinformation and unverified narratives spread through social media, particularly among people without access to accurate information from the ground.
“And it has got certain serious. I must say tendency for Creating a kind of unpleasant situation When people try to Paint communal color in this kind of situation,” Dr Sangma said.
“People who do not have access to Information, which is based on ground reality. People can be misinformed And therefore That misinformation will only get Amplified,” he said.
“In an era where social media people are active in social media, How are you going to prevent this kind of situation?” he asked.
He called for visible and timely government intervention, saying authorities must be seen to be actively responding to incidents that could otherwise escalate into wider tensions.
“Therefore, the government Under any circumstances must be seen active, must not be seen napping,” Dr Sangma said.
Turning specifically to the Jorabat-Khanapara corridor, he said reports of people physically obstructing incoming vehicles on roads in Meghalaya were unacceptable and called for immediate action under the law.
“Therefore, if you are looking at between that Jorabat to Khanapara, literally, some people standing on the roads in Meghalaya and obstructing the Incoming vehicles enforcing, Physical barrier. This is something which has to be stopped,” he said.
“You allow this and you don’t act as per the provision of the law,” Dr Sangma said.
He warned that failure to act could encourage similar incidents in the future.
“Then you will only embolden this kind of forces To engage in this kind of things in future,” he said.
