Minister laments BSF, Army not getting land in state
Shillong, Apr 25: To get protection from outside threat, the people have to welcome the security forces around them. This point was driven home as cabinet minister Kyrmen Shylla expressed concern over the challenges faced by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Army in getting land for setting up bases in the state.
“We want them to be around us, to protect us but we are not giving them a place to stay. Whom to blame? It really is quite difficult,” Shylla told reporters on Thursday while replying to a query on growing incidents of infiltration from Bangladesh.
Recalling an incident, he said, “Last time I remember they were requesting for land so that they can shift a firing range because it disturbed the nearby village… it was difficult for them to get land… I don’t know how to accommodate (them).”
Without making an appeal to the people to change their attitude towards accommodating armed forces, he said, “We should ask ourselves whether we should go ahead (with giving them land or not) as to get protection, we need somebody here but where will they stay, there is no land for them. I hope one day we will have an answer for this.”
The minister also said the Central government is taking steps to protect its citizens residing on the border.
