AIZAWL, Jan 27: An IAS officer posted
in Mizoram has written a strongly-worded letter about the State-wide Republic
Day boycott sponsored by civil society
groups in Mizoram on Saturday.
Bhupesh Chaudhury, Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Government of Mizoram,
in his letter addressed to Home Secretary,
Ministry of Home Affairs; additional secretary (UT), Ministry of Home Affairs; Mizoram Chief Secretary and others, described
what happened in Mizoram during the RDay was ‘was unthinkable in a free country.’
A cadre of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa,
Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT)
wrote in the letter what had happened in
Mizoram. He elaborated that he along with
his “fellow officers, reached the northern
gate of Assam Rifles Ground in Aizawl to
attend the Republic Day function at 7 am.”
“However, to our shock and surprise, we
were stopped at both the entrance gates
and were told by the members of Joint NGO
Coordination Committee that we cannot
attend the function and that we should return to our quarters before any untoward
incident happens,” Chaudhury wrote.
Notably, the NGO coordination committee had taken a resolution boycotting the RDay function in their opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 (CAB).
The IAS officer further wrote that,
‘When we tried to reason with them, we
were told by the NGO office bearers that
the Government of Mizoram has reached
an agreement with the NGOs where it
was decided that only secretaries to the
Government of Mizoram and above will
be allowed to attend the R-Day function.’
He further wrote: “We told them that
NGOs have the right to oppose the CAB
but linking it with the R-Day and not letting Government officers to attend the function is rather unlawful. But anticipating a
law and order situation, we were forced to
return with deep pain and anguish.”
The IAS officer went on to allege that
none of the duty magistrates and police
with all their reinforcements were willing
to take any action against the members of
the NGO who were forcefully preventing
the Government officers and other citizens
from attending the celebrations. Senior
police officers present at the location simply expressed their helplessness at the situation, he further alleged.
The IAS officer also requested concerned authorities to ‘thoroughly investigate the particular incident and take strictest possible action against all involved for
publicly boycotting the R-Day celebrations
throughout Mizoram and forcefully preventing the civil servants from attending
the function in Aizawl’. - Assam Tribune
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