SHILLONG, NOV 24: Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma assured the assembly on Tuesday that no one will be spared if evidences are found of nexus with militants for the upcoming elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council-GHADC- slated early next year.
The chief minister was replying to a motion moved by NPP legislator James K Sangma on criminalization of politics taking place in the state.
The chief minister said, “We need to ensure that I any instances of militant nexus no one will be spared and the law must allowed to take its own course.” His assurances came after he admitted that the government is concerns of the presence of many militant splinter groups that could directly or indirectly involve themselves in the elections to the GHADC next year.
The chief minister said he is afraid of the fact that so many splinter groups are coming as the election to GHADC is approaching. The GHADC election will be held early next year and, he said, the he cannot rule out that these splinter groups will start marketing themselves to provide support to any candidate or to any other parties..
The chief minister said, “It is also necessary for all of us to come together in order to neutralize the militant outfits.” He also assured that the government is doing all it can for the prevalence of law and order to curb criminalization of politics in the state.
The chief minister said, “Law must be allowed to take its own course and this is the assurance I want to give on behalf of my government.”
Pleading the house not to ‘doubt’ the seriousness of his government in tackling militancy, the chief minister said, “I reassure that we are raising SF-10 despite the constraint in our resources.” He said the government has also taken up the matter of porous Indo-Bangladesh border with the centre along with all other north eastern states. He was of the opinion that the porous border is the ‘key’ to stop the “overall tendency of criminalization of politics”.
Refuting his alleged links with the militants, the chief minister said, “That is impractical. It pains me to see that so many allegations were scripted in that letter. If one goes through, one cannot imagine that such wild allegations can be thrown against the chief minister.”
The Opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) and the NPP had earlier this year shot off a letter to the President and the Prime Minister detailing the alleged links the Chief Minister had with the Garo militant outfits.
Rubbishing the allegation, the chief minister said, “The Prime Minister, the President; all are well fed with information about all politicians and particularly that of the chief ministers. Someone alleged that Sangma becomes chief minister with the help of the ANVC-B. I do not know if any MLA is approached by the ANVC-B. This is impractical.”
Stating that he is sure that the centre has information about where the CM eats or sleeps, the chief minister also said, “How does this kind of allegations help them… am sure they (PM) have read and throw such allegations in the dustbin.”
Sangma also said criminalization of politics will go away when the government deal with criminals, militants, anti socials and anti-national elements and this is what his government is demonstrating. He also informed that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also hold a separate meeting on the law and order situation in North East region in Guwahati on November 30.
Earlier, moving the motion, James K Sangma gave detail of the erosion of law and order in the region and demanded an inquiry to ascertain the criminalization of politics in all political spectra sparing no one.
The NPP leader said, “I request the state government to initiate an inquiry by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which will probe into the entire political spectrum of Meghalaya.” He also said with this kind of trend the state will spiral into chaos.
Supporting the motion, Hills State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) MLA Ardent Basaiawmoit expressed his concern alleging that the chief minister himself is not devoid from the politician-militant nexus allegation.
Basaiawmoit said, “The major impact of all this (militant nexus) is on the quality of governance. If we want to decriminalize politics, I hope members from across party lines would agree with me of having further strict laws to prevent candidates of spending unaccountable money during elections.”
According to Basaiawmoit, any candidate who spends lavishly in elections will focus on recouping his investment or returning favours to those who funded him after winning and when making money becomes imperative, corruption will go up, public services degenerate and the quality of governance is bound to suffer.
Opposition leader and UDP president Donkupar Roy reminded how the chairman of the outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) Julius Dorphang was elected to the House. He said, “If you go by reports, though not statistically, a person who has more links with militants has more chances to win elections (in the state).”
Roy also appealed to all members to take a pledge to work together in ensuring that the state is free from criminals and that they don’t control us.
UDP MLA Paul Lyngdoh warned that the state is in for ‘difficult times ahead’ if the criminalization of politics is not nipped in its bud.- By Our Reporter
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