Sounding a grave alarm over what he termed as the “reviving of militants” in Meghalaya, Member of Parliament from Tura Parliamentary constituency Saleng A. Sangma has warned that the state faces a dangerous relapse into its dark past of insurgency and cross-border infiltration. Speaking to media persons in Shillong, the Congress MP revealed that he had apprised Union Home Minister Amit Shah of militant regrouping and the entry of Rohingya elements into the state, underscoring the imminent threat to Meghalaya’s fragile internal security architecture.
“This reviving of militants, our youths joining militants, it is not just a concern of me, it’s a concern of every citizen who is living in the state of Meghalaya. Now, after very, very long years our people started having happy state of mind, okay, who has seen those horrors, the horrified scene killing before anybody, killing anybody, stealing anybody before their families before their children, those horrific things were over,” Sangma said, warning that complacency could once again push the state back into an era of bloodshed.
He cautioned that the state government’s failure to address unemployment and the growing drug menace was fuelling radicalisation among disillusioned youth. “If the government is not doing anything, pushing back our children, all those unemployed youths and bringing back this drug scenario to the state itself, then it’s the fault of the government itself. They’re talking about the big, big things that is happening, entrepreneurship, this and that, it’s all a gimmick only. Otherwise why would our own children go back to the jungle? Why they would train unnecessary? Why do they leave? Are they being dropped up from schools and colleges? Are they being mistreated?” Sangma asked, describing the current dispensation as “showmanship.”
When pressed on whether he would formally take up the insurgency issue with the Centre, Sangma asserted that he had already placed his concerns before the Union Home Minister. “Just few days back we had this Home Affairs committee meeting, consultative committee meeting. On that particular meeting, I had already appraised Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the issue of Rohingya entering the state of Meghalaya and even dacoits entering the state of Meghalaya and the militants started organising in the state of Meghalaya,” the MP stated.
Drawing a direct link between recent dacoity cases and militant movements, Sangma alleged possible foreign hand behind the crimes. “Now when we talk about the Rohingyas, the Arakan army might have entered the state of Meghalaya, you don’t know. What do you think about the dacoits who was caught recently at Ranikor? They were not only from the one district along with the Bangladeshi police constable. They were not from the one district. If they were a petite dacoits, they would have come from only one single village. So government should be aware, government should keep some kind of a mechanism where they can track this illegal entry and exit. We should not keep on relying with the Centre. Being the state neighbouring to the international border, our state should be vigilant, more vigilant in the border areas, how our people are living, whether we can protect our people in the bordering areas, whether we have given supplements, whether our people are equipped with any kind of tools to protect themselves. So those things should be taken into some kind of a measurement,” he maintained.
Lamenting the series of violent incidents in border zones, the MP claimed the situation was deteriorating. “Since those dacoits doesn’t belong to the same district or same village, they might be more trained and well organised militants you don’t know. They just didn’t undergo dacoity in just Ranikor area, I think you have heard about the dacoity near Baghmara also. So this is happening randomly in every border area, in every village of border area,” Sangma pointed out, adding that he strongly suspected militant involvement behind these organised crimes.
“Yes definitely, something or the other happening in those areas,” he concluded, insisting that both the Centre and the state must act decisively before the fragile peace collapses into an insurgency relapse.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma had also blamed the government’s indifference for fuelling frustration among educated unemployed youth, warning that such simmering discontent could provide fertile ground for militancy. “If they say they don’t know, then it is their failure or their usual denial mode, but the reality is all alarming. Inputs indicate that many qualified youth with professional degrees, out of frustration and anger, have resorted to rebellion,” Dr. Sangma declared.
The state police too have acknowledged disturbing trends, confirming that outlawed outfits are making fresh attempts to recruit and regroup, raising the spectre of insurgency after years of relative calm. “We have reports of new recruitment, but exactly the scale and who exactly these people are who are being recruited or trying to regroup or being formed again, we don’t know,” Director General of Police (DGP) Idashisha Nongrang stated, adding that the matter is under close surveillance though details remain sketchy.
