Shillong, Jan 2: The NPP MLA representing Sohra LAC, Gavin Miguel Mylliem on Tuesday said that he was surprised by the death threat issued agaisnt him by the banned militant outfit HNLC holding him accountable as the local MLA for the downfall of Mawmluh Cherra Cement Limited (MCCL).
“It was surprising because as far as my knowledge goes, it is the first time that the HNLC has issued a threat against a sitting MLA, thereby giving an impression that the banned organisation is dabbling in the electoral politics of the State. This goes directly against all tenets of democratic polity. It further gives rise to an impression that the threat is the result of some political game by a vested interest. Such a threat against an MLA who has only the larger public,” Mylliem told reporters.
He further said that the banned militant outfit has also held him responsible for the Government’s talk to close down MCCL and implement VRS for all the existing employees which can be considered as totally baseless.
According to him, everybody would be aware that any decision taken by the Government is a collective decision and not a decision taken by an individual for which he is to be held responsible.
The Sohra MLA said that it is ludicrous that the HNLC would consider him as an individual alone and should be held responsible for the decision taken by the Government.
“Now coming to the main issue of the HNLC demanding for my resignation, I would like to state that I have been elected by the people of Sohra Constituency since 2018 onwards, and that I shall serve the people as long as the people of my constituency mandate me as per law, to do so. The people of my constituency are fully aware that I have never backed down in trying to serve my people with utmost sincerity and diligence, something which is reflected in the development which has taken place in my constituency as a whole since I have taken over as the MLA,” Mylliem said.
The MLA further the MCCL and its main area of operation, is located within the Shella Constituency, and not within the Sohra Constituency, as presumed by many.
According to him, this fact would be ample reason for the Sohra MLA not to be too concerned with matters of the MCCL, and to leave things totally to the MLA Shella.
“However, I had taken an interest in trying to uplift the MCCL due to the fact that there are many workers of the company from within the territorial limits of Sohra constituency. My colleagues in the Assembly are also aware that on many occasions, I had raised the matter relating to the MCCL in the Assembly,” Mylliem said.
While urging the government to take a practical view on the matter, the Sohra MLA further said that personally he was of the opinion that the MCCL has reached the present stage because of a range of reasons, and holding the present MLA as responsible for the present situation, is totally without any basis.
“By the time I had taken over as MLA in 2018, the harm had already been done. If any questions are to be asked, and if any responsibility is to be fixed, then they should be directed against the persons who had been functioning in responsible capacities from 2007 onwards when the plant’s functioning started to deteriorate,” Mylliem said.
He further said that he would therefore presume that the misleading call by the HNLC has been based mainly on misinformation and lack of knowledge of the facts of the case.
“I hope that the HNLC would abstain from making such baseless statements henceforth,” the Sohra MLA added