‘Insurgency was a product of the Britishers’

GUWAHATI, Oct 1: “Insurgency, which was a product of the Britishers and their policies before 1947, was of political, social, economic and cultural factors. The political, social and cultural shift and relative deprivation gave rise to glaring economic divide, furthered by middle class traders from outside NE,” said Kumar Padmapani Bora, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, (HQ), NER here on Monday.

Bora opined that without jobs and finished products from natural resources going out of NE, insurgency saw a peak. These saw a spate in demand for separate statehood in NE, in absence of an opportunity for income. Insurgency was curbed through dialogue and various interventions. Government of India has liberalized its economy, providing an impetus to warring insurgents to come to mainstream and be a part of the economic development, Bora further observed.

Addressing a gathering of students on the theme, ‘Economic Confidence Building in Northeast at the Royal Global University (RGU) on Monday, Bora maintained that northeast can attract foreign capital with inclusive development by making better infrastructure in roads, buildings, skill development and personnel by taking advantage of various existing policies. “The vicious cycle of trust deficit and conflict in the region is slowly being overtaken by confidence building, the main focus of MSME being to benefit the youths and open the Northeast into international economic development due to its proximity to SE Asia,” Bora further said, a release said.