Vision draft calls N-E people immigrants

The BJP was left red-faced on Tuesday within hours after releasing its vision document for Delhi polls which referred to people from the north-east who are living in the capital as “immigrants”.

The Congress was quick to point out the mistake and demanded an apology from the BJP. The BJP responded by evening: “We deeply regret the use of wrong word. The intention was to write migrant” 

A paragraph on page 12 of the vision document where the error crept in was dedicated to the party’s plans for the safety of people from the north-east who have often been subjected to racial discrimination in the national capital. 

However, the heading of the paragraph read, “North Eastern Immigrants to be Protected (sic)”. Congress leader Ajay Maken raised the issue immediately after Arvinder Singh Lovely released Part II of the party’s manifesto.  

“The word immigrant is used when a person comes to live in a foreign country. Does the BJP consider north-east people as foreigners,” Maken said.

“Sadly, this comes at a time when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is in China. How will she speak to China on the territorial dispute over Arunachal Pradesh when her party does not consider it a part of India? Is our Minister of State for Home Affairs (Kiren Rijiju), who hails from the north-east, an outsider according to his own party?” Maken said.

Meanwhile, criticism also erupted on social networking sites.  @Rajyasree stated: “I’m surprised that the BJP has shown restraint and referred to people from the north-east as immigrants and not as chinkies. Impressive.”