SHILLONG:
Governor Satya Pal Malik on Friday assured to take up with the state government the matter of safety and security of all citizens in the state.
The assurance was given to a delegation led by BJP leader and legislator from Pynthorumkhrah AL Hek and chairman of the Assam State Linguistic Minority Board, Shiladitya Dev, during a meeting held at Raj Bhavan.
The delegation sought the Governor’s intervention in the recent assault incidents on linguistic minority groups in Shillong.
Addressing media persons after the meeting, Hek said people of the state are not communal but such incidents are occurring due to the government’s failure to take action against anti-social elements.
“The government has failed to take action against anti-social elements. The people of Shillong are peace-loving and want to co-exist. Therefore, we don’t want any social injustice in our state and everybody has equal right to live anywhere in India being
citizens of our country,” he said.
He, however, regretted that criminals go scot-free and warned that if action is not taken against them, the situation may go out of hand.
“Just because of one or two the name of the entire community is spoiled. Therefore, this should not be tolerated,” he added.
Hek said, “He (Governor) has assured to take up with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and also with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to ensure action is being taken and no person is allowed to take the law into their own hands.”
Dev said the Governor was informed about the recent happenings while urging him to influence the government to take action against such criminal activities.
Earlier in the day, he asked the Meghalaya government to set up a Linguistic Minority Development Board to look into welfare, safety and security of the linguistic minority people in the state.
The former Assam legislator arrived here and held meetings with the linguistic minority groups in Shillong, intellectual groups and public representatives.
This came in the wake of the recent assault incidents on people belonging to linguistic minority groups by miscreants in Lumdiengjri and Jaiaw areas of the city.
Dev said there is a feeling of fear among the linguistic minority people in Shillong, which can be addressed by the government through a Linguistic Minority Development Board.
“The government can take action immediately after it is reported because many times what happens is that the linguistic minority people often do not register FIRs or report to the police fearing they may again be attacked or harassed,” he said while adding “…such an incident happened in 2020 when a girl had registered an FIR in Laban police station and after one year, she was forced to withdraw the case.”