Shillong, Oct 17: Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh has criticised HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem for the manner in which the group is carrying out drive against drugs.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the minister said, “Well, the president of the HYC has a legal background. You should ask what he knows about the NDPS or PITNDPS. Whether the law of the land allows him to go and catch hold of people?”
He further added, “We are here to uphold the law and that is our primary objective and concern as a government and lawmakers. Now when you do anything that contravenes or goes against the law, your activity becomes illegal. You might just grab headlines but it doesn’t make any difference at the field level. You make news for a couple of days but then whatever you do will not stand scrutiny of the court then it becomes self-defeating”.
The minister said he would take up with the Centre on Meghalaya witnessing an increase in the drug trafficking following the Manipur unrest.
“We are hell-bent in eradicating the drug menace in Meghalaya. The unfortunate thing is of our strategic location as we are very close to the golden triangle and the fact that the unrest in Manipur has led to a shift of the trade from that particular area to Meghalaya. That is the challenge. I will be visiting the national capital briefly and make sure that the leaders in the government of India are well briefed about the seriousness and scale of drug trafficking that is happening in the state,” Lyngdoh said.
