Assam deputy speaker sparks controversy over 'NE vs rest of India' tweet

By Devabrata Dutta

GUWAHATI: The deputy speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly and a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from the Bokajan LAC, Numal Momin, has sparked controversy over a tweet that seemed to come across as 'divisive' and drew severe criticism from the netizens.

In a tweet posted on Sunday morning, following Manipur athlete Mirabai Chanu's victory at the Olympics, the deputy speaker wrote, "NE vs rest of India. #Olympics NE Won."

This statement did not go down well with many of the netizens and they came down upon deputy speaker Momin heavily.

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Opposition reacts to Deputy speaker's statement:

Talking to InsideNE, Congress legislator from Pasighat West of Arunachal Pradesh, Ninong Ering said, "Though his words should not be turned and twisted but he also could have said this in a better way as well. Being from a national party, which is in power, how could he make a statement like that? This is wrong."

 He said that though Northeast has always been sidelined on many occasions, getting two union ministers and three Minister of State (Mos) inducted into the union cabinet from Northeast was a big achievement.

It needs mention that MLA Ninong Ering had made headlines recently after he was being targeted by a few YouTubers on the basis of his physical appearance and been termed as 'Chinese' for the same.

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Following the racist slur on Ninong Ering, a social media outrage had embarked across the northeast condemning the act and a demand to include a chapter on the Northeastern region of India in national-level school textbooks intensified.

Talking to InsideNE, Debabrata Saikia, Nazira Congress MLA as well as the leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Assam Legislative Assembly, said, "The way it was tweeted would leave room to speculate that Northeast is seeking independence from India. The word 'vs' should have not been there."

Saikia added, "It could have been written as Northeast makes the rest of India proud or something like that. Needed to be careful while posting."

When InsideNE contacted deputy speaker Numal Momin to hear his side on the matter, Momin said, "Everybody has the right to criticize. How can you stop them? I wrote it in a sportsman spirit and I have mentioned the Olympics in the tweet. People are just putting sports in politics."

"In sports 'versus' is a common word. Being a person from Northeast India I feel proud of her. What's wrong with that? What I said is true and does not imply anything like segregation of the region from the rest of India. If people find it controversial then it's up to them," added Momin.

The Olympic controversy does not seem to be leaving Numal Momin any sooner. A day before the deputy speaker fell prey to a 'fake news' that stated Indian wrestler Priya Malik was winning gold at the Olympics. Momin was seen tweeting a congratulatory message regarding the same. Later the tweet was deleted.

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