Aziz Qureshi will be appointed as governor of Mizoram on January 9, reinforcing a disquieting impression — the Northeast is used as a dumping ground for those that the government wishes to relegate or punish. Qureshi, the sixth functionary to be appointed to the post in as many months, was the Uttarakhand governor who had taken the Narendra Modi government to court for allegedly trying to ease him out of office. In its reply to the court, the government accused Qureshi of not acting in a manner “behoving of the status of governor”, and of bringing “disrespect” to a constitutional office. So why would the government deem an individual considered unworthy of holding the office in one state as being fit to discharge the same responsibilities in the Northeast?
Qureshi’s is not the first Northeast appointment in recent months to be perceived as a “punishment posting” — by the government as well as the individual on the receiving end. Soon after coming to power, the NDA government transferred to Mizoram Kamla Beniwal — the former governor of Gujarat who had locked horns with the Modi-led government in the state over the appointment of a lokayukta. Next, former Maharashtra governor K. Sankaranarayan, another UPA appointee, was transferred to Mizoram — he resigned. Former Congress CM and Kerala governor Shiela Dikshit also seemed poised for similar relegation before her resignation. The signal is depressingly clear: the Northeast is to be treated as the boondocks, ideal for political exile.
