Reacting to arrested individuals who were tagged with political parties in Tura violence, Meghalaya Education Minister and NPP leader Rakkam A Sangma on Wednesday said only if an individual holds a big position in a political party can he/she be tagged as member of a political Party.
Sangma added that there are certain individuals who do not hold any position within the party and they come to create law and order problems, they are like criminals.
“There are certain individuals who were arrested holding high position portfolios in different political parties, certainly we can say he or she belongs to that political party, but there are so many individuals who do not hold any position in any party they just came to create law and order problems, and they are the criminals. Maybe they have voted for some other party we don’t know, but certainly there are individuals who themselves have claimed I belong to that particular party,” the Minister said.
The NPP leader further said that maybe they have voted for some political party but they can’t be branded as being part of that political party.
“There are few guys who belong to my constituency who worked with certain political party, I know but police might now have been knowing them, but those guys will not have tag that they belong to any political party ….I can call them just criminals who is attacking honourable Chief Minister and the officers,” he said.
The Minister further termed the mob attack at the CMO, Tura as unfortunate.
Addressing media persons, he said, “It is very unfortunate and it is uncalled for to attack the head of the state.”
Rakkam also said he does not think that people, who were part of the mob, were concerned about the issues relating to the reservation policy and the winter capital in Tura.
“I don’t think so. They were there to create law and order problems and not to discuss the subjects,” he added.
He reminded that not a single drop of blood was shed during the hill state movement. The minister said, “We can demand, we can protest democratically but not through violence. It is only through dialogue and discussion that we can find a solution.”
He also claimed that the MDA government under the leadership of the chief minister Conrad K Sangma is ensuring equal distribution of developmental packages to all regions of the state.
“We want to ensure people in every nook and corner of the state have a sense of belonging. The government is reaching out to every district and every block to ensure development reaches to the people of the state. Therefore, development in the last five years has been tremendous,” he stated.