Dy CM slams Shiromani Akali Dal for demanding deployment of army at Harijan's colony

SHILLONG:

Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, on December 14, slammed Simranjit Singh Mann-led Shiromani Akali Dal for demanding deployment of the army at Them Iew Mawlong, where the Harijan's Colony is located.

"Deployment of army for what? There is no war. Is there any battlefield here that we need to deploy the army at...," asked Tynsong.

Mann, on December 9, had deputed his emissary Gurjit Singh Jhampur to Shillong seeking Governor Satya Pal Malik intervention into the Harijan's colony issue and requested for deployment of army contingent in the vicinity of the Colony.

Tynsong, who also heads the High-Level Committee (HLC), however, maintained that it is the responsibility of the state government to take care of each and every citizen - irrespective of they are tribal or not.

"The state government is bound to take care of every community be it tribal or non-tribal. We are here not to communalise or say that ‘okay you are a Khasi’, ‘you are a Sikh’ or of a different community. One cannot do that; it is out of question,” he said.

Maintaining that the area is a marketplace, and it cannot be converted into a residential area, Prestone said, "On the basis of that, we from the High-Level Committee had submitted a detailed report to the government and the latter decided that a relocation has to take place from that area; whoever stays over there need to shift to a proper place.”

The state government had recently taken possession of the land at Them Iew Mawlong and is in the process of relocating the people of the area to a new place.

Tynsong informed that the government has entrusted the Urban Affairs department as well as Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) to do the needful.

"For employees of other different departments residing in the colony, we have asked the respective departments to shift their employees to their respective campuses or other places so that the urban affairs department can start redeveloping that place," he added.

The deputy chief minister, however, reiterated that the government is always ready for talks with the residents of the colony on the matter.

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