Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma on Tuesday urged the people to bear with the state government for the ban on mobile internet.
Chief minister Conrad Sangma said the state government did not want to ban the mobile internet service but it was important to maintain law and order and ensure the safety of the people.
Admitting that the shutdown of mobile internet has caused inconveniences to the people, Conrad Sangma said based on the situation, the overall law & order is the priority of the state government.
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On the restoration of the mobile internet, he said the government will have to see the situation and wait.
He urged the people to bear with the state government for the sake of maintaining law and order and remain safe.
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“I know it is causing inconveniences to the people but this is something which we do not want to do. There were disturbances in the past four to five days and we have seen, to a large extent, all these disturbances and tensions have come down,” he said.
On the comments and the opposition Congress duping the MDA government as “inefficient and bankrupt of ideas to deal with the given situation and governance,” by banning the internet, Conrad Sangma said, “People will say what they have to say.”
“The most important point has always been in any eventuality to ensure that people’s lives are safe. That is the priority for us,” he said.
“In the earlier situation, our police exercised maximum restraints and the police have done a tremendous job that no serious injury was there and no life was lost. In order to achieve those goals, we will take the necessary steps to ensure people’s lives are safe.”
“Anybody can comment on any issue they wanted, but at the end of the day, it is the law and order and the safety of the people, which is important,” the CM added.
Mobile internet and SMS services have been banned in the state in view of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, especially after miscreants set ablaze vehicles and vandalized shops in commercial areas of the Shillong city in the past few days.