IMPHAL, February 9: All the 60 MLAs of the State should be responsible for any issue creeping up in the State and not just one MLA should be singled out to be held responsible, Health and Family Welfare minister Phungzathang Tonsing said today.
The minister was addressing the Congress (INC) Workers Meet 2016 of 58-Churachandpur Assembly Constituency held at his residence at Ningthmekon Paite Veng in Imphal.
He said the meet could have been held in Churachandpur like in the previous years, however, since his residence in the district was burned down in last year’s violence, he had to organise the meet in Imphal this time.
As an elected representative of the people in the Manipur Legislative Assembly, he has been part in passing of many bills, and none of these bills had ever face any problem, he said at the function which was attended by hundreds of Congress workers from different parts of Churachandpur district.
Unfortunately, the passing of the three bills has taken an ugly turn, the minister said referring to the ILP bills which have faced much opposition especially in Churachandpur district.
He said the government is not government and will sometimes commit worngs, but all these should be corrected through proper discussions.
He said if any of the acts of the government is hurting the sentiment of any community, it can always be renegotiated.
He observed many people are claiming that the Meiteis are depriving the tribals from their reservation and quotas, but it is not the truth.
It is true that the tribal are still backward, but their rights are not deprived by the major community Meities, he added.
If the people feel that the tribal rights are harmed by the government, it can always be reviewed and be settled in democratic ways without any violence, because we live in a democratic nation, he observed.
He said we are tribals of Manipur and so Manipuris. Manipur is a State and we are all its citizens and we have contributed as much as everyone else in safeguarding the territorial integrity of the State, he added.
If we are united there will be communal harmony among us, he said adding that we can and should safeguard the territorial integrity of Manipur even though some outside forces are trying to create problems among us, Phungzathang asserted.
He assured the government will provide maximum compensation with honour to the victims of the recent violence in Churachandpur. He further appealed to the people of the district to bring in peace in 2016.
Maintaining communal harmony depends on the leaders, he said, and added that by maintaining communal harmony among the different communities we can bring a beautiful Manipur.
The law and order situation in the State has also improved a lot and it is time for us to safeguard the territorial integrity of the State for our future generations, he added.