Guv was misled by Govt: Paul
SHILLONG:UDP legislator Paul Lyngdoh on Monday said there was no bigger myth than the assertion in the Governor’s address to the state assembly that the law and order situation in Meghalaya was by and large stable and under control.
Immediately after this statement of Governor Dr KK Paul was uploaded in the website, many had criticized the claim of the State Government as untrue. There was a comment in the social networking website that ‘this is the biggest joke of the millenium’.
“I feel pity for the Governor since he is being misled by the State Government to come up with this misleading statement,” Lyngdoh said while initiating a discussion on the debate on Governor address on the second day of the Budget session of the assembly on Monday.
He said the reality was that the law and order situation had totally collapsed.
Recalling the case of former Ampati police station officer-in-charge Narul Islam who had raped two minor girls within a span of one week after taking charge, he said that if the person who was supposed to protect the common people was indulging in this such a grave crime against humanity, it was a reflection on the present state of affairs which the Government of the day was faced with.
“What is worse is the State police could never track down this tainted policemen. Is this what the Government means by claiming that the law and order situation is stable,” Lyngdoh said. He said that the Home (Police) department was in total shambles since it had no sense of collective responsibility or any sense of direction.
The UDP legislator said that the State police had failed to prevent the incidents which had taken place during the four months of ILP agitations which had led to the loss of life and public property. Lyngdoh also observed that it was really sad that the State police had failed to tackle militant activities in vast region of the State which were close to West Khasi Hills and Garo Hills.
“The militants in this region are openly carrying their extortion activities. It has been reported that militant outfits would have prior information on the raid to be conducted by the police. They always manage to flee before the arrival of the police,” the UDP legislator said.
Taking part in the discussion on the Governor address, UDP Nongthmmai legislator Jemino Mawthoh said that the Government was giving a misleading picture about the law and order situation in the State. “The prevailing law and order situation in the State is in a bad shape. There is a spurt of militant activities especially in Garo Hills. Criminal activities are also on the rise,” Mawthoh said.
He pointed out that the Governor in his speech had mentioned that the State on an average registered 257 criminal cases per month out of which theft was predominant.
“He had noted such crimes had registered an increase by 23.14 percent in 2013 as compared to 2012. It was also mentioned in the speech that there is a rising trend in crimes against women and children,” Mawthoh said.
Opposition leader and UDP legislator Dr Donkupar Roy, too, questioned the claim over the prevailing law and order situation by stating that going by the reports in the media, kidnapping and abduction by the various militant outfits were on the rise in Garo Hills.
“We have also seen that other criminal activities are also on the rise. The Government has failed to handle the law and order situation and this can be testified by looking at the prevailing situation in Garo Hills,” Dr Roy said.