Shillong, Mar 12: Voice of the People Party (VPP) president and Nongkrem MLA Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit today said the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government effectively encouraged non-tribal participation in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) and has little to no concern for the indigenous tribals.
The issue of non-tribal participation in the (now postponed) GHADC elections has led to deadly and destructive violence in West Garo Hills since Monday.
The state government has washed its hands of responsibility, with District Council Affairs Minister Prestone Tynsong yesterday saying that the issue pertains to the autonomous council and not the state administration. This ignores the fact that both the GHADC and state government are led by the National People’s Party (NPP), the lead member of the MDA, and that the state would play a major role if changes were to be made to the election rules of the GHADC, as Garo pressure groups had been demanding.
Today Basaiawmoit, whose VPP has no representation in Garo Hills but is seeking to expand there, said that when ministers gave a statement in the Assembly that it cannot stop the non-tribals from contesting and participating in the district council polls, he had questioned the leadership of the MDA government.
“I had made a mention in my submission that this careless and irresponsible statement will have very serious implications and I have been proven right with the present law and order situation in Garo Hills,” Basaiawmoit said.
He stated that the present situation arises out of the attempt on the part of the non-tribals to contest the council election given the fact that they were encouraged by the kind of statements made by the leadership in the MDA.
As Meghalaya falls under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which tribals had to fight relentlessly for, the “children of the soil” should understand that the incorporation of the Sixth Schedule into the Constitution was to ensure that the rights of the indigenous people of the state in the tribal areas are guaranteed and are well taken care of.
Meanwhile, he also appealed to the people of Garo Hills to refrain from any violent form of protest since this will, he claimed, only give the government an excuse to unleash terror on the population.
CM bears moral responsibility for Garo Hills chaos: NCP
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma bears moral responsibility for the disturbance in Garo Hills and must resign, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state president, OK Sangma, said today.
The former MLA also condemned the sudden postponement of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) election, calling it visionless and unacceptable. The issue of non-tribal participation in the GHADC elections has led to deadly and destructive violence in West Garo Hills since Monday.
In a statement, Sangma said that the decision was made by the state government without consulting political parties, which created an unwelcome precedent. He added that parties and candidates have already spent funds in campaigning for the election and the postponement has meant that this has been wasted.
