First, the supporters of HDR Lyngdoh from Sohiong constituency and now the supporters of Julius Dorphang from Mawhati have come out in defence of their respective leaders. This support cannot be spontaneous. It is always possible to mobilise support amongst those who have benefitted from the personal patronage of the MLAs. As expected, Lyngdoh’s supporters have alleged a political conspiracy to jettison him from the Home Minister’s chair. These supporters clearly do not believe in political ethics which is that a Home Minister must step down from his post to enable a free and fair enquiry into a criminal case that involves his family member, and that if he continues in that post it becomes a conflict of interest since the police would not be free to do its job. Do these so-called supporters not know the antecedents of the case at hand? Don’t they have young daughters who might be exposed to similar dangers of being raped and molested by powerful people at designated guest houses also belonging to the high and mighty? Should the Chief Minister of the State who is supposed to take a call on this sensitive issue also use the alibi of public support to HDR Lyngdoh and therefore give him a longer rope before taking the only action that he should be at this time, which is to sack his Home Minister?
It is an established fact that a section of the electorate in Meghalaya is highly compromised and will do anything if assured of a quid pro quo. So now we have the working president of the Mawhati Constituency Political Committee standing in defence of his MLA Julius Dorphang who stands accused of raping a minor girl. The man has cast aspersions on those who have filed FIRs on various sections of the Prevention of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against Dorphang. Does the man even know what he is talking about when he even alleges political conspiracy? Why would social activists and concerned citizens have a vested interest in framing unnecessary charges against Julius Dorphang or demand that the Home Minister step down unless the situation so demands? Do the people of Mawhati still believe their representative is wrongly framed and that therefore the minor girl who is raped is lying on oath? Clearly they are yet to understand the ramifications of the POCSO and the consequences of raping a minor girl. If they did they would not stand in defence of one accused of doing so.