Following the arrest of alleged sex workers from Khyndailad over the weekend, cabinet minister Ampareen Lyngdoh today said that the police are doing the right thing but there should also be clear procedures and verification as not every woman standing on a road is a sex worker.
“I also feel that too much policing is also not good but the lack of it is also not good,” Lyngdoh said. “What we need right now is to request the public to start policing themselves and if you want your fun and go out late at night then you have to act responsibly. The moment the police are involved in this kind of vigilantism it becomes a problem.”
Earlier this month, Lyngdoh’s constituency was engulfed in late night violence after a mob stoned Laitumkhrah police station and torched vehicles after a fight between two groups. Following that, the district administration slapped a draconian order shutting all establishments at 10pm in the city only to have to climb down and revoke the blanket order, instead singling out five areas of Shillong where businesses have to close at 11:30pm.
Then, yesterday, police informed about their “vice raids” in several parts of the city, wherein 15 sex workers were arrested.
Asked whether the district administration’s order was right, Lyngdoh said that it is a matter of opinion.
“You need to justify the decisions you take and especially the capital Shillong, Khyndailad is so near to the Secretariat, there was no need for us to to really be hasty in any decisions that we take. But having said that, the administration is a competent authority to take decisions. It’s not about right or wrong. It’s just that tricky situations should be handled with great care,” she opined.
Asked about the progress on the Laitumkhrah incident, Lyngdoh mentioned that the police need to handle these situations strictly. “If there are violators and violations have occurred we have to take a strong decision so that it is not replicated and not imitated.”
She also emphasised the need for the police to take firm decisions. “And the first thing that we need to be careful of is for us to be on the same page – MLAs, administrators, the police force – we all have to speak the same language. Otherwise, it’s going to go very wrong.”
