‘Opposition forced Mondal to violate rules’
SHILLONG: Leader of Opposition Dr. Donkupar Roy on Friday slammed Assembly Speaker AT Mondal for disallowing their adjournment motion plea on the Inner Line Permit (ILP) issue.
Expressing disbelief at the action of the Speaker, Dr. Roy said that it was the first time in over 25 years that an adjournment motion for discussing a matter of urgent public importance has been disallowed in the House.
“Earlier Speakers never rejected. It appears that the Speaker Abu Taher Mondal is acting at the behest of the Government,” Dr. Roy alleged while addressing newsmen after the Opposition members staged a walkout to oppose the decision of the Speaker to disallow the adjournment motion to deliberate on the issue of ILP and the prevailing law and order situation here on Friday.
Dr. Roy pointed out that an adjournment motion is totally different from the resolutions and motions.
“We moved the adjournment motion since we are all concerned about the prevailing law and order situation which has led to a hue and cry in the State,” Dr. Roy said adding that the members wanted to discuss the issue in detail.
When asked if the Opposition members would continue to agitate in the House in the coming days, Dr. Roy did not give a clear reply but said, “Agitation is the voice of the unheard”.
Taking exception to the government decision to set up special courts to try ILP stir cases,
Dr. Roy warned that the confrontational attitude of the government is ‘adding fuel to fire’.
“The Government is trying to incite the NGOs by maintaining that there would be no future dialogues unless they stop the agitation. Not only this, the Government has set up a special court for trial of cases against members of the NGOs which is unbecoming. The setting up of a special court may lead the State into other forms of agitation,” the Leader of Opposition said.
Recently, the State Government had received sanction from the High Court of Meghalaya to establish a Special Court to try cases related to the ongoing agitation by pressure groups on the ILP issue as the series of agitation have been viewed as dereliction of judicial rulings.
Dr. Roy alleged that Meghalaya is pursuing the same strategy that was followed by the Assam Government where they had attempted to suppress the voices of the youths and the same led to the emergence of various militant groups there.
Meanwhile, Government spokesperson Prof. RC Laloo blamed the Opposition for forcing the Speaker to violate the rules in the Assembly on Friday .
Referring to the rule 57 (1) of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, Laloo, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister said that not more than one motion should be taken up at the same sitting.
“There is already a resolution on ILP moved by Ardent Basaiawmoit to be taken up on Tuesday, and it appears that there is no unity or understanding within the Opposition”.
According to Laloo, if the Opposition was united , the resolution on ILP should not have come.
“How can the Opposition make the Speaker violate the rules”, Laloo asked.