Shillong, May 19: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday appealed to leaders of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) to introspect their decision on the issue of job reservation.
His statement came after the VPP has decided to stage an indefinite hunger strike from May 23, as a mark of protest against the government’s apathy towards its demand to review the reservation policy during the all-party meeting held here.
“I fail to understand where the VPP’s logic is coming now. First they were saying and talking about all these issues and now when this is clarified, they are raking up another issue. (Anyways) it is their political decision,” Sangma told reporters.
“I only urge one thing that we need to understand that we are responsible leaders. We need to understand that we are responsible to the state and to the people. We need to understand there are certain areas and certain subjects that have the potential to harm the communal harmony that we have and affect the state’s unity and as responsible leaders, we should know where and when and how we should move forward. Everything is not about politics. Everything is not about political games,” he added.
After chairing the all-party meeting, the chief minister claimed that almost all the political parties have understood what the government is doing in regards to the roster system and they have appreciated the fact that there will always be challenges.
“But on the whole what the process we followed and the way we are thinking of moving forward is something almost all the political parties, all the opposition parties and everybody has appreciated it and they are in line and they are seeking some more clarifications but in principle they have understood how we move forward,” he said.
Asserting the need for leaders to introspect and take the right decision on this issue, Sangma said, “We have to remember that going into these areas is there any concerns or how it will impact the entire reservation in the larger context of things and I think as responsible leaders all supporters of different political parties need to introspect and be able to take the right decision.”
“These are not simple things, these are very complicated things and we are looking at situations that could be unnecessary caused disharmony in the state and also these kinds of things could affect the overall reservation policy that is there in the state if some wrong steps are taken,” he said while adding “We have been living in a society for the last many centuries and we are lucky to have our own state in the last 50 years and we are lucky that the different policies and the reservation have been working in our favor for the last many years.”
Urging the leaders and supporters of all political parties and stakeholders to work in harmony, to work for unity, the chief minister said there is need for leaders to be responsible to ensure safety, security and harmony in the state.
“As a government and as a chief minister, I am ensuring that we are able to take everybody together. There are tough decisions to be taken and we are taking those tough decisions. The political parties who are here with me know the discussions that took place, they know the concerns that are there and yet keeping all balance of things we are ensuring that we move forward in the best possible manner,” he added.
