SHILLONG: Even if the Meghalaya Governor in his address to the Budget session of the Assembly had said the law and order situation in the State was by and large under control, after four days of debate Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma admitted on Wednesday that the State had not been able to free itself from the mushrooming of militant outfits.
Replying to the debate on the Governor’s address, he said many youths were joining insurgent groups for the sake of earning easy money. “Root cause of militancy is complex and it requires concentrated efforts from all concerned,” Sangma said even as he admitted that the State Government had not been able to provide the required support to the police.
He pointed out, however, that the problem of militancy had not happenned overnight and the state had seen a situation when militants used to kill people openly and
they used to roam around with guns. Sangma said that the State Government was working in complete synergy with other agencies. Because of this, it was having access to highly sophisticated intelligence. “Police will be able to pinpoint movements of militants and even their hideouts after few days as we are using such hi-tech systems,” he said.
Chief Minister blamed militant outfits for planning the conspiracy of Garo-Rabha clashes in recent years. He stated militant outfits were involved to create ethnic strife so that forces involved in counter insurgency operations had to be withdrawn and deployed in e disturbed areas. A similar conspiracy was made to create strife between Garos and people of the plains when a girl was molested in Tura, he said.
According to Sangma, COBRA and additional forces which were sanctioned from the Centre were not familiar with the local situation and therefore the State Government had decided to raise Special Force 10 since the State should have its own force.
“Police will be able to pinpoint the militants movements and even their hideouts after few days as we are using such hi tech systems,” he said.
Chief Minister slammed human rights activists, saying that the activists condemned the police during encounters but they did not condemn militants when they killed common people, adding that in Meghalaya violations of human rights had been the minimum.
The Chief Minister expressed concern over the growing instances of crime in the state while stating that the Meghalaya Police Act would facilitate the efficiency of the police. He said the Government would soon complete the process of separation of the judiciary from the executive and this would be a deterrent for the criminals. “We have to strengthen the prosecution and investigation wings,” he said.