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India On Media |
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| Politics
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| How UPA missed a golden chance here |
| Opinion: How UPA missed a golden chance here
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| INDIA
, 2-December-2013
3:2:43 AM |
| Siddharth Mazumdar is a policy analyst at Columbia University, New York and a founder member of Citizens for Accountable Governance, a non-profit based in Mumbai.
"You will not regret voting for the Congress party" declared Prime Minster Manmohan Singh while addressing a rally of 600-700 people in Aizawl two weeks ago. He was in the hilly capital of Mizoram to seek votes for the legislative elections in the state. Expectedly he praised the work of incumbent Congress Chief Minister Laltanhawla but chose not to speak on how during the past decade he slept over a golden chance to fundamentally transform India's seven sisters.
Most economists are now in agreement that since 2003, there has been an unprecedented economic boom in several world economies including ours. Rapid economic gains offer governments a realistic chance to resolve all internal and external conflicts. A recent study by Sweden's Uppsala University has shown that between 2002 and 2012, the world saw far fewer and less severe civil conflicts than any other preceding decade since World War 2. Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Burundi and Russia are some examples given in the study where economic growth has led to prosperity and even considerable peace.
Occupying over 8% of India's geographical area and strategically nestled between four countries - Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China - India's North East has long borne the brunt of New Delhi's administrative neglect and embroiled in a constant state of insurgency. Unlike other regions in India, the extremely pluralistic North East is not united by a common cultural identity - a common misperception of 'mainlanders' -but neglect and contempt by other fellow Indians.
Historically there have been several explanations for this sustained neglect. Cumulatively all the north eastern states send fewer MP's to the Lok Sabha than the entire state of Orissa.
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