BJP state vice president and Tura MDC Bernard N Marak on Thursday came down heavily on the state government for its order to close business establishments after 10 pm in the entire East Khasi Hills District.
“Imposing restriction order is not the right decision as the hawkers and night shift earners who are not even connected to the incident are left paralyzed in their quest for survival as their only source of livelihood is at stake. If a trivial incident is allowed to gain such magnanimous status, then it completely exposes the collective administrative failure of the state,” Marak said in a statement.
Marak said, “ if shutting the city early a solution? What if another incident similar to this breaks out at 8:00pm so will the timing of shut down will be revised to 6pm and so on?”
“Instead of finding an effective and modern mechanism to curb such incidents while maintaining the safety of its citizens the government has gone years back in time with such a step. The question of assuring and restoring tranquillity is way out of scope as it seems for now, but it has gone one step ahead by creating a fear factor on the minds of the people for their own safety,” he said.
Marak further requested all stakeholders that for such a minor brawl, we should not punish the entire city of Shillong and the government should revoke this order keeping in mind the larger interest of citizens and those whose livelihoods are affected.