Thma U Rangl Juki (TUR) today said it is relieved that coal baron, Nidamon Chullet was convicted for one of the many crimes he has committed over the last fifteen years and said it was hopeful that the ruling coalition in the State will remove him from the various positions.
“We hope that the ruling coalition in the state will take this opportunity to remove him from the various positions of authority they have appointed him to in recent years and stop accepting donations from him and other career criminals,” TUR said in a statement today.
Chullet, who is also a senior NPP leader, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in murder case committed 14 years back by the District and Sessions Court, Jowai.
“While we respect the legal principle that a person must be considered innocent until proven guilty, surely we can hold our leaders to a higher ethical standard? How can we continue to allow people like Nidamon Chullet and accused rapist Thomas Sangma to wield so much authority in our state? Chullet has been implicated in a plethora of crimes, including the attack on noted activist Agnes Kharshiing, enquiries into which the state government has routinely sought to suppress,” the organisation said.
“It is shameful that just a few days ago the NPP justified Nidamon Chullet being the Working President of the NPP in the Jaiñtia Hills, and appointing rape accused Thomas Sangma as its national general secretary. We insist that members of the NPP no longer intimidate brave voices such as Amita Sangma, who has been seeking justice for herself and Kong Agnes for the last four years. She has repeatedly said that she was threatened by powerful figures in the establishment in this quest, and that this conspiracy of silence included even the Chief Minister and NPP President, Conrad Sangma,” they added.
Stating that TUR cherishes people who speak the truth as the government loathes them the organisation added,” We will continue to provide a platform on which they can exercise their freedom of speech.”
Furthermore, the organisation said it is a hopeful sign for Meghalaya that criminal courts occasionally deliver justice to the victims of violence. “But justice, unlike revenge, should never be served cold: we urge everyone in the legal and political establishment in the state to use this opportunity to fix a system so broken it can only convict someone as notorious as Nidamon Chullet more than a decade after the case against him was first filed. He has used that time to terrorise the people of the Jaiñtia Hills. We can only hope that Thomas Sangma will not be allowed to follow in these footsteps and is forced to face the political consequences of his actions before he commits further crimes against our people.”
