SHILLONG, Nov 13: Two days after the House witnessed a tiff between NCP Chief Saleng Sangma and Congress MLA Zenith Sangma, a repentant Saleng on Friday said he regrets using unparliamentarily words but his adamant half has said he does not regret banging the table, maintaining that he will do the same for “the issue of the people”.
Saleng has also said that he holds nothing against Zenith, claiming that he was provoked.
“I don’t regret banging the table and I will bang it again for the issue of the people. We have the privilege. You cannot clap with one hand; you need both hands to clap and that is why it is not like he is always right,” Saleng said.
He also recalled that he had raised a lot of important issues concerning the plight of the people like hundred students were expelled due to the failure of the administration, officers were terminated due to the education scam, the non-functional schools in Uranium-rich area of Domiasiat in West Khasi Hills since 2007, and law and order.
“My house was exploded. NCP candidate and five along with him were killed and a lot of things happened and people were living in fear. I was never against anybody and I just said that law and order has improved a lot now from the past and people who lived under fear and tensions can now move freely,” Saleng said.
Stating that he had exhorted Chief Minister Conrad Sangma through the Speaker to look into all these issues, Saleng said, “He was putting words into other people’s mouth every now and then. You have seen it during the course of reply by Power Minister James Sangma and Home Minister. At least, he should not have done it after being told so many times”.
Making it clear that he has been a victim of militancy and has lost a lot in those times, Saleng said, “I am emotionally attached to all those people who have come across lawlessness. I still get that nightmare and it is still lingering. I am still looking after the widows who were the victims of lawlessness during that time”.
He said that in the course of that debate, he might have said those unparliamentarily words but it does not imply that he has any personal issue with Zenith.
“Like I said I am for the people, and that nightmare carried me away because I am emotionally attached to whatever had happened, not only to my family but to all families who had faced it,” he added.
