Former Deputy Chief Minister Bindo M Lanong has dismissed the demand of the BJP for Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui to resign over last week’s Mukroh Massacre.
Speaking to Highland Post, Lanong said that the demand is nothing more than the saffron party playing politics. The BJP had demanded that Rymbui, who like Lanong is from the United Democratic Party, take moral responsibility over the failing of the Home Department to prevent the massacre by Assam police on Meghalaya territory.
“So many worse things have happened in India but did [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi take responsibility and resign? The BJP should demand the resignation of Modi also,” Lanong said.
The national secretary of the BJP, Rituraj Sinha, squarely put the blame on Rymbui for the Mukroh incident.
When asked about some of the UDP leaders who have also stated that the Home Minister should take constitutional and moral responsibility and quit, Lanong disagreed. “For anything happening in their constituencies, should we ask them to resign as MLA or MDC?” he stated, adding that previous Home Ministers should also take responsibility for not strengthening the police service and guarding the borders properly.
“Why have all the former home ministers not done their duty especially during the Congress, who ruled for so many decades, and why has anyone not pointed fingers at them?” Lanong asked.
He also said that the government is run by a coalition of parties and no one person can be blamed.
Meanwhile, from a legal point of view, Lanong said that the families of the victims can also demand compensation for their loss from the Assam government. The state government has already paid the next of kin compensation for the deaths.
The UDP advisor and nominated MDC also called for a separate cadre system for Meghalaya and Assam.
