Shillong, December 11: The Civil Society Women’s Organization (CSWO) criticized chief minister Mukul Sangma for directing the pressure groups and the public to seek information through Right to Information (RTI) Act with regards to the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873 that was repealed for Garo Hills region.
In a statement issued on Wednesday CSWO president Agnes Kharshiing said, “We would like to remind the chief minister that he is a public servant and should not be asking the ngos or the public to go and seek information through RTI all the way to Delhi.”
Kharshiing was reacting to a statement made by Sangma on Tuesday when he had asked the pressure groups to go to Delhi and seek information through RTI on ILP so that they can clear their‘state of confusion over ILP’.
Kharshiing said the repealing of the Act should have been made available to the public, when the chief minister, his ministers and those in the law department have time and again mentioned about the Act rather asking the ngos and public to go all the way to Delhi to gather the information. She said the people should not be harassed to go as far as Delhi to get the information.
Kharshiing said, “In fact as most of the ministers and the CM visit Delhi almost every weekend they should have brought it along with them if they were really trying to prove what they say.” She further questioned as to why a copy of the act is not with the state when all acts are also made available to the States
Kharshiing said providing a copy, which only mentions in the footnotes, that the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873 was repealed from Garo Hills, cannot be accepted and informed that this was made available in the website of DONER ministry which has also got a map of Meghalaya made when there is still a dispute over land with Assam.
With regards to the claim that the Union Home Ministry had sent a letter rejecting the demand for implementation of ILP on the ground that it will be an ‘ultra-vires’ to article 19 clause (d) and (e) of the Indian Constitution, Kharshiing said, “It may be mentioned that Clause 5 of Article 19 of the Indian Constitution clearly states that “Nothing in sub clauses (d) and (e) of the said clause shall affect the operation of any existing law, in so far as it imposes, or prevent the state from making any law imposing, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of any of the rights conferred by the said sub clauses either in the interests of the general public or for the protection of the interests of any ‘Scheduled Tribe’.”
Kharshiing was of the opinion that such claim is nothing but insensitivity of the union government to protect the interest of the Scheduled Tribes. She said, “Here in Meghalaya they have inserted amendments to Land Acts which were never amended in the Legislative Assembly, and the ILP protects the lands of the Tribal People of the State.”
Sangma has also stated on Tuesday =that there is evil design and conspiracy behind the recent allegations that the Meghalaya Prevention Detention Act (MPDA) and Meghalaya Maintenance Public Order (MMPO) are ‘draconian laws’ to create confusion, public anger and law and order chaos in the state.
With regards to campaigns and protests, Kharshiing said, “These are constitutional rights and cannot be construed as evil designs or criminal conspiracy, especially when there is so much scams affecting the people and if people speak out they are suppressed by these draconian laws.”
Kharshiing said that there is the IPC that deals with the various acts of violence and the use of the MPDA and the MMPO is the act of a coward and corrupt government. – By Our Reporter
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