Editor,
Apropos the news item “FKJGP deports 6 migrant workers from Rambrai” (ST Aug 7, 2014) I would request the Government of Meghalaya to provide clarity with regard to the following:
1) Does FKJGP have written sanction from the State Govt. or Central Govt. to arbitrarily carry out inspections and deportations of migrant workers? It has been observed that groups such as FKJGP, KSU, RBYF and others have from time to time, been carrying out inspections and deportations of migrants without legal sanction. It is impossible that such a thing could be carried out without the knowledge of the State Govt. Would the Govt. of Meghalaya provide clarity on this subject? Is it outsourcing these activities to non-governmental organizations such as FKJGP? What is the Govt’s legal position on this issue? What action, if any, will be taken against FKJGP in this regard?
2) During the recent unrest caused by pressure groups demanding Inner Line Permit, several persons belonging to pressure groups were arrested under Meghalaya Preventive Detention Act. Among them, the president and general secretary of the KSU Lawsohtun unit Johny Sohkhlet and Readyon Stone Nongrum were booked under MPDA for their involvement in burning alive a tea stall owner from Bishnupur. But subsequently, MPDA was revoked by the State Govt without explanation. Will the State Govt explain why it was deemed necessary to drop the charges under MPDA against these individuals? Was the crime of burning a human being alive not considered to be serious enough to warrant these charges?
3) What is the current status regarding prosecution of the 4 KSU members and 1 taxi driver who were arrested for the murder of a non-tribal migrant labourer in Mawiong in 2012? Why has the case never come to trial?
4) Will the State Govt explain the reasons for its failure to check serious crimes such as arson and murder committed against the non-tribal community in Meghalaya by anti-social elements? How many of those arrested for violent crimes have gone to trial in the past one year? Has there been a single case in which a person has been tried and convicted for racial crime in the history of Meghalaya?
It is a sad reflection of Govt. apathy and helplessness when it has to outsource its duties to anti-social elements. The recent phase of anarchy in Meghalaya is a direct result of Govt’s policy of appeasement towards law-breakers. Will the Govt. Of Meghalaya please come clean on the questions above? Failure to answer will be automatically interpreted as an attempt to cover-up its misdeeds. As most people are now saying, President’s Rule is definitely preferable to anarchy brought on by a lame duck govt steeped in corruption.
Yours etc.,
Biraj Goswami
Kahilipara, Guwahati