Shillong, Sep 7: The opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC) has strongly denounced the National People’s Youth Front’s (NPYF) demand that a student apologise for “disrespecting” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma.
The NPYF is the youth wing of the National People’s Party (NPP), which Conrad leads. The student of RIMS Imphal had spoken out against the proposed public private partnership (PPP) model for the upcoming Tura Medical College at a public meeting in Tura at the end of August.
Then, on September 4, the NPYF criticised the person’s conduct at the meeting as unbecoming of a medical student and insulting not just to the CM but to the elders and others present.
Today, however, the TMC hit out at the rival party’s youth wing, with senior party member Richard Mrong Marak labelling the NPYF’s statement as a “political display of cowardice.” He argued that the reaction exposes the government side’s fragile ego and intolerance towards scrutiny or public inquiry.
Marak praised the student’s action as a commendable display of civic responsibility, prioritising the well-being of the public. In contrast, he said the government has deflected attention by launching a personal attack on the young individual.
The TMC has demanded that the CM and the state government retract the NPYF’s statement, cease using political proxies to, it said, bully citizens and provide transparent answers about the Tura Medical College. The TMC’s view is that the project, funded by public money, should become a fully state-run institution.
Meanwhile, the members of Association of Meghalaya Medical Students at RIMS Imphal strongly rejected the statement of condemnation issued by the NPYF, saying that the medical student at the centre of the controversy “voiced legitimate concerns” during the recent deliberations.
Citing the Constitution and the right to freedom of speech and expressions, the association said that, as students, “we exercised this right in raising concerns on the PPP model of management proposed for the upcoming Tura Medical College. To term such participation as “disruptive” is an unjust attempt to silence democratic voices.”
It rejected any demand for an “unconditional apology”, since expressing views in a democratic forum constitutes neither insult nor misconduct, but rather a constitutional right and duty, the association added.
