Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday said the issue of beef “cannot be the only point of reference for political discourse” with regard to the northeast, and to do so was to ignore the genuine needs of the area.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr Khandu, who joined the BJP in January this year said the controversy over the recent notification by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) effecting curbs on the trading of animals for slaughter at cattle markets was being blown out of proportion.
Venkaiah clarification
“Venkaiahji (Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu) just clarified about the notification put out by the MoEFCC and said the Central government will be taking a re-look at the notification and reaching out to stakeholders including state governments. So I think the beef issue is flaring up out of nowhere. It is true that in the northeast maximum people are non-vegetarian, they eat beef and other meat too. In fact, pork is much more popular in northeast India,” he said.
“For my part, I feel that the issue of beef, therefore, cannot be the only point of reference for political discourse in the northeast. The issue of beef is dominating the discourse to such an extent that it takes attention away from what we want to achieve in the State; other issues that we deal with, that are, like beef, a feature of our societies,” he added.
Mr. Khandu added that he did not perceive any “cultural gap” coming in the way of BJP’s expansion in northeast India.
“Prime Minister Modi’s focus on the region is on a totally different in scale from others. He has made it a point to be in the region for the third anniversary of the government; last two years he visited Sikkim and Meghalaya during the same anniversary period. Union ministers have to visit each of the northeastern States, on a roster, every 15 days. And you can imagine if ministers are there once a fortnight, bureaucrats from the Centre need to be there more often. It resolves many issues for us,” Mr. Khandu said.
“When I became Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, I was a Congressman (July 2016). I arrived in Delhi, along with ex-chief minister Nabam Tuki and the State unit president to call on the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. When we landed we were told that our meeting could take place only after three days.
PM’s priority
“We wondered what we would do in Delhi in those three days, so we sent a message to the Congress president that I wanted to call on Prime Minister Modi, which is a protocol that is followed. I sent a message to the PMO seeking an appointment, thinking it too would take several days, but I got a call back in 15 minutes. Prime Minister Modi met me that very day and said the northeast was a priority for his government and that we must put the political crisis behind us,” he recalled.
Among the issues that Mr Khandu has been flagging with Union ministers is a project for border villages, still pending approval at the Home Ministry, and proposal to promote high end tourism in the State.
Connectivity issue
“Arunachal’s issue is connectivity. Railway lines have been announced in the last couple of years and we have started surveys for rail networks. Mr. Gadkari has also announced highways worth ₹50,000 crore in the next three years. Arunachal is a beautiful State and top agenda is tourism, especially high end tourism as we have many helipads etc. and connectivity for those who can afford it is not a problem,” he said.
