The northeastern states of India have always remained distant from mainstream India, its news, and its people. Even though the state of Manipur made it to daily headlines not so long back, the reasons were all too unfortunate for the same. But what about the other northeastern states, their development, and the transformation they have been going through?
‘Modi’s Northeast Story’, a new release, authored by Tuhin Sinha and Aditya Pittie, with a foreword by BJP National President, JP Nadda, is a one-of-its-kind anthology that documents the transformation of India’s northeastern states since the year 2014.
PM Narendra Modi’s Act East Policy was the first step towards uplifting the Northeast with a rare visionary zeal. Ten years later, the results are all too visible.
Modi’s Northeast Story brings together contributors who have been at the forefront of ushering in this change or have witnessed it unfolding from very close quarters, including Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma; Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu; Union Minister of Earth Sciences, Kiren Rijiju; Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways, and Civil Aviation, General V.K. Singh (Retd); Members of Parliament, S. Phangnon Konyak, and Tejasvi Surya; author and anthropologist, Rami Desai; Lairenjam Niranjan Singh; and Tage Rita; among others.
Tuhin A. Sinha is a best-selling author, columnist and politician. He is presently the National Spokesperson of BJP. Tuhin is acknowledged among the most prolific Indian writers with a maverick knack to experiment with new genres. Tuhin recently completed an acclaimed trilogy on India’s unsung subaltern freedom fighters with his books- The Legend of Birsa Munda, The Great Tribal Warriors of Bharat, and Sido Kanhu. Tuhin’s books traverse a wide range of subjects across both the fiction and non-fiction genres. As a popular media voice of the BJP, Tuhin has been vocal and articulate on all recent political issues through his articles in print and appearances on news debates.
Aditya Pittie is an experienced entrepreneur and angel investor with interests in politics, public policy and nation-building. He holds a BS (Engineering) degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, and a MS/MBA degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. Aditya is a mentor for the Atal Innovation Mission, Government of India, past president of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), Pune, and Convenor (Western Maharashtra) of the BJP Intellectual Cell.
To delve deeper into the aspects covered by Sinha and Pittie in ‘Modi’s Northeast Story’, and more, related to the northeastern region of India, Sonakshi Datta of GoaChronicle posed a few questions to the authors.
What inspired you both to come up with a book on ‘Modi’s Northeast Story’?
We were deliberating on what the top 3 to 5 groundbreaking transformations in Bharat are, under the visionary leadership of PM Modi Ji, since 2014. The transformation of Northeast India was one of them, but the details of what has actually happened are not so well known and nothing was well-documented. While much has been said about the other aspects, the complete, all-pervasive transformation of our northeastern states has often not received the attention it deserves.
What problems have the northeastern states of India faced since the 1962 War?
The lack of infrastructure development and unstoppable illegal immigration from Bangladesh were the two main issues which the northeastern states had faced since 1962. In fact, as recently as in 2013, the UPA defense minister had mentioned on the floor of the House, in the Parliament, that as a policy, the UPA did not believe in improving infrastructure in the border areas, if that would provoke China.
So, this kind of a defeatist, negative, and apologetic mentality towards the northeastern states was one of the prime reasons why they feel alienated and ignored.
What factors, do you think, led to the repeated neglect of the northeastern states by the earlier central governments?
The Congress party is guilty of practicing the politics of ‘otherization’. They always treated certain parts of the country as not intrinsically belonging in Bharat, and as a result, they either pampered or ignored them excessively. On the one hand, they pampered Kashmir excessively, and on the other, they ignored the northeastern states completely.
Somehow, a lot of these problems emanate from the Congress’ basic lack of understanding of India’s history, and of course, the leadership which has been at the helm of the Congress from 1998, with that leadership, the problem of ignorance of Indian history was more pronounced. There was no political willpower to address long-standing issues, and in fact, they believed that in politics, issues are best not solved and left to hang around.
That is where the attitude of the Modi-government is very different. We believe that political willpower can bring a resolution to any long-standing dispute; which is what our present government has done.
What steps did the erstwhile PM Atal Bihari Bajpayee take to bridge the gap between northeast India and the rest of the country? How far do you think he succeeded?
Under PM Bajpayee, infrastructure creation of an unprecedented scale was initiated in the northeastern states. In fact, it was PM Bajpayee who included Sikkim into our northeastern states, and from the land of seven sisters, the entire terminology changed to ‘Ashtalakshmi’. He believed that the eight states would be the path to India’s economic prosperity in the future. Mr. Bajpayee was being very visionary when he out forth this thought.
There were also attempts to integrate the northeastern states with India, culturally. Bajpayee Ji tackled insurgency with more adroitness or sagacity than any other previous Congress governments had.
What exactly is Modi’s ‘Act East Policy’? What, according to you both, is the most remarkable aspect of the same?
The Act East Policy, a key component of Prime Minister Modi’s development model, aims to strengthen ties with Southeast Asian countries. The North East, strategically located, serves as the gateway for this policy. Initiatives like the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, and the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, enhance connectivity and trade, promoting economic development in the region.
When Narendra Modi became the PM of India in 2014, he had a vision of transforming India. He put the northeast at the heart of his vision. He changed the ‘Look East Policy’ to ‘Act East Policy’, and took a holistic approach to tackle the challenges of the region. He asked all the union ministers to visit the region and spend a night there every two months, to ensure a better integration of the region with the national policies and programmes.
There have been an unprecedented 65 visits by PM Modi to the northeast, along with more than 700 visits by union ministers since 2014.
What is the most colossal impact this policy has made on the northeast states of India?
The development of North East India under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has witnessed a remarkable transformation over the past years, and validates his unique development model. A model, characterized by inclusive growth, infrastructure development, connectivity, and harnessing the region’s potential, has transformed the North East into a thriving region.
From improved infrastructure, enhanced connectivity, industrial growth, focus on tourism, renewable energy utilization, biodiversity conservation, revitalizing traditional industries, and empowering local governance the region has experienced a wave of development. PM Modi’s inclusive policies, coupled with a deep understanding of the region’s unique challenges and potential, have laid a solid foundation for the region’s progress.
Infrastructure development is a cornerstone of Prime Minister Modi’s development model, and significant efforts have been made in the North East region. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has spent more than Rs 3.84 lakh crore for infra development. The construction of roads, bridges, airports, and railways has brought about a transformative change, enhancing connectivity and reducing geographical isolation and has vastly improved transportation links within the region and with other parts of the country.
The 9.15 km long Bhupen Hazarika Bridge, inaugurated in 2017, is the longest over-water bridge in India and has reduced travel time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, fostering economic integration and tourism. Airports too, increased from 9 to 17 in the northeast.
Do you reckon that the Manipur carnage has become a chink in the armour of the central government and its vision for the northeast? Could the situation have been handled better by the government?
There is no doubt that the Manipur episode has left a dark spot in an otherwise impeccable record that the Modi-government has in the northeastern states. In fact, Manipur also, between March 2017 and April 2023, had reported the longest period of unhindered peace and prosperity. But unfortunately, some dark shadows of the past which we had thought had been exorcised or done away with, sprang back to haunt us.
It is a legacy issue, and unfortunately, ethnic conflicts have been existing in the northeastern states since infinity, and though, we have had a good record in resolving some of the issues, we do hope that in Manipur too, we would be able to put the present crisis entirely behind us, in the coming months.
India’s highway connectivity, right up to Thailand, which crosses through Myanmar, obviously has some geo-political ramifications, and at the same time, the way the Biren Singh-government had come down heavily against the illegal poppy cultivation, too had some ramifications.
These ethnic conflicts were slightly unanticipated because the six years preceding them were the longest period of peace and prosperity that the state has witnessed in probably the last few decades. Having said that, the situation is under control right now, and things will get better from here. In the time to come, Manipur will be at the same level on the growth trajectory, as Assam or Arunachal Pradesh.
