Shillong, Jul 22: The youth wing of the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) today issued separate condemnations of president of the Meghalaya unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing, Mewaker Lyngdoh Pakma, for a social media post where he called for protestors in Delhi to be shot.
Being an opposition party, the criticism of the VPP is unsurprising. However, the HSPDP’s condemnation is the first of an allied outfit; the HSPDP and BJP are both junior members of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.
Meanwhile, the BJP state unit’s spokesperson Arnab Das said that he had spoken to Pakma and the latter “categorically denied making any such statements”.
Das suggested that Pakma’s social media account may have been “hacked and misused”, though no proof of this was presented.
Pakma’s Facebook profile continues to be restricted to friends only but his Instagram is viewable by the public. He shared Das’s press release as a new status but has otherwise remained silent on the storm that he created.
The VPP youth wing described Pakma’s social media post as “bloodthirsty” and a demonstration of his “hunger for power with bloodstain (sic).” Other choice words used by the VPP to described the comments included “dangerous display of fascist ideology”.
According to the VPP youth wing, if such leaders come to power in Meghalaya, they will bring nothing but chaos, violence and deep division to the community.
“They will destroy the very principles of accountability, transparency and system that we are fighting to build in Meghalaya, the youth of Meghalaya wants clean governance, accountability and transparency in the system — not leaders who dream of shooting us down when we ask question,” the VPP youth wing stated in the press statement.
Meanwhile, the HSPDP youth wing called Pakma’s words inflammatory and irresponsible.
Such rhetoric poses a grave threat to the constitutional fabric of democracy and is unacceptable from a public office-bearer, it added.
The party expressed concern over statements that appear to support the use of deadly force against citizens peacefully seeking accountability. It said such language weakens the rule of law, discourages people from speaking out, and sets a dangerous precedent by normalising violence in public life.
