Shillong, Sep 25: The Hynñiewtrep Integrated Territorial Organisation (HITO) has strongly criticised Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong for labelling suggestions that it was time Meghalaya had a Khasi-Jaintia Chief Minister as communal.
On Sunday HITO had written to the CM, Conrad K Sangma, asking him to give way to a Khasi-Jaintia colleague in the interest of fairness after he had applied the same reasoning to his cabinet reshuffle last week.
The pressure group had suggested Tynsong as one of the possible replacements as CM. However, when asked about this subject yesterday, Tynsong said he had no ambitions in this area and that such debates should not be communalised.
Today HITO labelled Tynsong’s statement as misleading and an insult to the people of Meghalaya.
HITO president Donbok Dkhar questioned why the principle of equity should stop short at the Chief Minister’s chair, emphasising that a Khasi-Jaintia CM could work just as hard to usher in development.
Dkhar also highlighted his organisation’s support for demands in Garo Hills of a bifurcation of Meghalaya into separate Khasi-Jaintia and Garo states. He also tore into the government for removing Meghalaya’s only woman cabinet minister (Ampareen Lyngdoh) in the reshuffle, for the spread of alcohol and drug addiction, failure to establish rehab centres, violations of tobacco selling laws and the state of healthcare generally in Meghalaya. In raising the last point, HITO referred to Tynsong’s own recent medical problems, pointing out that he had to get treatment in Delhi because of Meghalaya’s “neglected” healthcare sector.
