There are three judicial inquiries instituted by the Government of Meghalaya on (a) the MeECL Saubhagya scam (b) the Rice scam and (c) the encounter killing of former HNLC General Secretary, Cheristerfield Thangkhiew on August 13 last. Other than the media, no political party, is keen to follow up on these inquiries and to find out their outcomes. It’s normal for the coalition partners in the present MDA Government to want to give all three inquiries a decent burial. But what about the Congress – the main opposition party? The Congress attacks the MDA Government in fits and starts which is both inconsistent and unsystematic. If the Congress was serious about safeguarding the interests of the state and people, it would have used its resources to ferret out the truth in these various scams. Politicians in the Opposition know the modus operandi of those in the ruling conglomerate and it’s not difficult for them to track the rot in the system. The new Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Chief and Shillong MP, Vincent Pala, had told the media that coal bearing trucks are paying Rs 1.20 lakh each for free and safe passage from Meghalaya to Assam and beyond. They were earlier paying Rs 60,000 for the same service. The higher the payment the more coal the trucks carry. They are now carrying upwards of 40 tonnes per truck. No wonder the Bailey bridge at Dwar-U-Ksuid, Umroi is constantly breaking down.
The Government will continue to play mind games with the public which has a short memory. But the media has to keep reminding the Government that it cannot manipulate peoples’ minds through the most used mind-game tactic – that of diverting their minds to other issues so that they will forget the core issues. On August 5 last the Government announced that a retired judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court would inquire into the Rice scam. It is not known if this one-man Inquiry Commission has since proceeded with the formalities and started its investigation and whether those involved have been questioned. In the interests of transparency it is the Government’s responsibility to inform the public on the status of these inquiry Committees/Commissions.
On the Cherister Thangkhiew killing case Retired Justice, T Vaiphei who heads both the Meghalaya and Assam Human Rights Commissions, was appointed by the Government of Meghalaya on August 20 last to head the independent Judicial Inquiry into the matter but here too the public is in the dark as to whether the Commission has begun its work and questioning of witnesses has started. Why this aversion for transparency?
