The A’chik Conscious Holistically Integrated Krima (ACHIK) has dismissed yesterday’s statement by Shillong MP Vincent Pala on the roster system as “hogwash”.
Thursday saw Pala urge the state government to adopt a cautious and balanced approach while tackling the contentious issue of the roster system and not play politics. He said that using 1972 (the year the state’s job reservation policy was enshrined) as the cut-off year would make the issue “more complex” and even lead to communal tension.
In a release today, ACHIK general secretary Bernita R Marak said that Pala should know that the roster system has been mandated by the Meghalaya High Court which set the cut-off at 1972.
The question of communal tension does not arise, Marak added, as the issue is about rights, equity and justice for the Garo community, which, ACHIK maintains, has not been given due representation in state jobs for the past five decades.
Being a leader of an “esteemed party”, Pala should know better and not only speak on behalf of one particular community but should have “stood for the justice of all”.
