Former legislator Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit on Sunday strongly condemned Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy who compared the status of non-tribals living in the state to that of Kashmiri pandits.
In a statement, Basaiawmoit, who led the revolution Iada la ka Ri (Safeguard the Land) said, “We never expected that this kind of biased and fabricated statement will come from a person who holds the highest constitutional office in the state and reside among the peace loving people of our beloved land.”
Also read: Position of non-tribals in Meghalaya like Kashmiri pundits: Governor
“As a community we should not take his statement lightly, perhaps he was made to come to our state with a pre-planned mind to provoke and stir up the minds of the indigenous people of Meghalaya so that they will react thoughtlessly,” said Basaiawmoit.
However, Basaiawmoit said the Iada la ka Ri’ urges the indigenous people of the state not to fall into this sinister plan.
“His frequent statements against the interest of the indigenous people suggest that he was sent purposely by the central government to create a turmoil in our state for reasons best known to them,” the statement said, adding that “this kind of a person is not needed in our state”.
A newspaper on its Sunday issue quoted Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy as saying that the conditions of the non-tribals in the state are like that of the Kashmiri pandits in 1991.
He was also quoted as saying that he told the ministers and senior government officials that ‘he will not let any citizen of India residing in this country – be it Khasi, Garo, Bengali, Christian or a Muslim – suffer from any indignity or any fear’.
See e-paper March 08 2020 https://t.co/h4ZO8B9oUk pic.twitter.com/cSIzKEVybs
— Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) March 8, 2020