SHILLONG: Senior advocate and rights activist Colin Gonsalves feels public interest litigations can go a long way in solving the row over uranium mining in Meghalaya.
Addressing a gathering at a state-level consultation on ‘Human Rights in Meghalaya’ on Saturday, Gonsalves said the issue can be “single-handedly taken to the court’.
Citing the example how a PIL halted mining in Goa for three years, the apex court lawyer said, “Similar steps can be taken here to express concern over dead rivers in Meghalaya due to indiscriminate pollution.”
Earlier, Khasi Students’ Union chief L. Marngar expressed the organisation’s concerns over uranium mining.
The union, along with other pressure groups, has been opposing uranium extraction in the State fearing its grave impact on environment.
Mining in several states like Maharashtra, Odisha and Karnataka was suspended in the past following PILs.
Explaining the power of PIL, Gonsalves, who is the founder of Human Rights Law Network that organized Saturday’s programme in collaboration with Shillong Law College, said PIL is an important factor in fighting against various issues affecting the rights of people.
“A single PIL had ensured all institutions in Sikkim to have such committees in place,” the senior lawyer added and urged future lawyers to be alert and active.
Similarly, in the case of Manipur which is under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the advocate said armed forces have killed over 1,500 people in the past three decades.”The Court last year had maintained that a person in uniform has no right to kill a person,” he added.
Earlier while speaking on the rise in crimes against women and children in the programme, Civil Society Women Organisation chief Agnes Kharshiing lambasted the failure of the system in tackling issues related to women and children.
“Look at Meghalaya where a lawmaker is involved in raping a minor girl and a home minister refuses to take moral responsibility to step down when his son’s guest house was misused for exploiting the minor girl,” Kharshiing said.
Thma U Rangli Juki (TUR) leader Angela Rangad spoke at length on the issue related to the hawkers’ rights and their fight for implementation of the central law, while Michael Syiem of the Maitshaphrang Movement highlighted the social challenges arising out of increasing broken homes in the State.
