In Meghalaya, parties fight over Orissa, Arunachal, Assam... 

Shillong, Feb 26: Who says political parties in Meghalaya lack any major issues, apart from the regular ones like corruption and stability, to fight assembly elections?

If the issues concerning Meghalaya are not enough, the Congress and the BJP in the state have locked horns over the recent and past incidents in other states like Orissa, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi and Assam to name a few. 

Two days after Congress leader and union minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, while addressing a rally here, asked the BJP president Rajnath Singh to explain to the people the recent attacks on Christians in Orissa, BJP MP Kiren Rijiju demanded an apology from the Congress for the 'attacks' on Christians in Arunachal Pradesh in the past. 

Rijiji, also the BJP leader in charge of Meghalaya, told a press conference last evening, 

"Christians in Arunachal Pradesh were prosecuted and thousands of churches were burnt down after the Congress passed a legislation in the state in 1978 barring the entry of Christian missionaries. This happened when the Congress was in power in both the state and Centre." 

He said, "Even Mother Teresa was barred from entering Arunachal. And they brand the BJP as communal!." 

Stating the Congress should own responsibility for the incidents, the Arunachal MP demanded that the Congress leadership owed an apology to the people of Arunachal. 

The Congress owes an apology also for the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 in Delhi, he said. Rijiju also sought to dismiss allegations regarding the party's role in the recent Orissa violence, saying, "Inquiries have shown that the Orissa clashes were between two communities Kui and Khanda over the ST status. The BJP was being dragged into the issue." 

Earlier, union minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi had said, "Let Rajnath Singh answer to the people in Meghalaya why Christians were not allowed to celebrate Christmas in Orissa." 

To add Assam to the list of states from where issues have been dragged, BJP president Rajnath Singh cited the development in Assam while claiming that the Congress was abetting illegal infiltration. 

Describing the quashed Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act as an instrument through which the Congress abetted the infiltration for the sake of votes in Assam, Singh told a rally in Garo Hills two days back that even after the Supreme Court quashed the Act, the Congress refused to learn and brought out an amendment to the Foreigners Act, thus nullifying the quashing of the IM(DT).