Leader of opposition in Meghalaya Legislative Assembly and Meghalaya TMC’s parliamentary party chief Dr. Mukul Sangma has termed the Assam police firing at the villagers at Mukroh as ‘genocide’, even as the former Chief Minister appeals for maintaining peace in both the states.
On November 22, five civilians from Meghalaya were killed in an open firing in Mukroh village, West Jaintia Hills along the Assam-Meghalaya border. Trinamool Congress Legislature Party Leader & Leader of Opposition, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, Dr. Mukul Sangma reached ground zero immediately to stand in solidarity with the distressed.
Calling this incident as a ‘genocide’ and complete failure of the state in providing safety and security to the people residing in border areas, he said, “As per the inputs made available to us, it is a genocide. We have to see the circumstances leading to the situation. Over the decades, similar challenges have confronted us. Having learnt from the past, we have mutually had exhaustive discussion, deliberation and engagement, SOPs were laid down to deal with such situations. In the recent past, it has been observed that they have completely deviated from the SOPs and there is absolute lack of coherence between the states.”
Cornering the NPP-led MDA government, Dr. Mukul Sangma emphasized on the importance of following SOPs to deal with such incidents. He said, “From what has happened today and the preceding incidents that have been happening, I can draw a conclusion that both, the Government of Meghalaya and the Government of Assam have completely disconnected themselves from the SOPs that has been laid based on the mutually agreed terms and conditions to deal with problems along the areas of difference. Whatever collective effort has been made by the preceding government of the past, it has been completely ignored. They are completely disconnected from reality.”
Dr. Mukul Sangma, further recalled the 2010 Langpih incident and said, “See, if you revisit 2010, when a similar kind situation took place in Langpih, I visited the area of occurrence and met the affected people. We observed a sense of insecurity amongst the people as the police from Meghalaya side was removed in 1989 for whatever reasons by the Government of Meghalaya. So, the first thing that we did was that we confronted the Government of Assam; ensured that under no circumstances our people should be subjected with a sense of insecurity. Therefore, we reinstalled the presence of police in that area, and we followed up with our counterpart to ensure that no such instances of infringing upon the rights of the people happen”, he added.
Furthermore, he said, “We are highly disturbed by this incident. Therefore, I would like to appeal to all concerned to maintain calm and only insist that the law of the land to take its own course. The government must assume upon itself without any further delay to ensure justice as per the law of the land. To all the concerned across the region, I appeal to maintain a peaceful environment. We want to see that the government fulfil its legal, social and all other necessary responsibilities.”
Earlier in the evening, Dr. Mukul Sangma, also visited Jowai Civil hospital to meet the injured people and their families along with other Meghalaya TMC leaders.
Following which, while consoling one of the aggrieved family members, he held her hands and assured her that unfortunate loss of lives will not go in vain; he assured that ‘logical conclusion’ will be ensured. Expressing his deepest condolences, he prayed for the families of the departed and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.