SHILLONG: The lone Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) MDC, Adelbert Nongrum got emotional and wept on the first day of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) session on Thursday during the discussion to bring about amendment to Rule 128.
“Time and again, we talk about (Rule) 133 and not (Rule) 128,” he said, crying, even as CEM P N Syiem stood up from his seat to speak to him for a few minutes, Congress MDC PT Sawkmie was also seen doing the same.
Nongrum on numerous occasions has raised the issue of amendment to Rule 128 of the Assam and Meghalaya Autonomous Districts (Constitution of District Councils), Rules, 1951 which seek to prevent non-tribals from taking part in the district council elections.
He informed the House that the amendment of the Rule 128 was necessitated to ensure security of the future generation.
Nongrum maintained that he would follow up on the issue and said, “It happened in Garo Hills. In the past, we have made mistakes. This present generation will be a lesson for all of us.”
“You can call me the next Mukul (Sangma) since I am crying. But I challenge myself. I am not a distributor of schemes. I don’t want to support the People’s Democratic Forum (PDF) or to it oust (for want of) scheme, it is all because of the issues,” Nongrum said.
Pointing to the previous discussions on Rule 128 which stated that it needed be studied in depth, he added that it should be clear that only indigenous tribals should be given the right to vote.
“I will look at the situation for one month and see what will be the outcome,” he said.