The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has declared a war against drugs and asked the Meghalaya government to adopt new strategies to eradicate the menace from the society.
Addressing the oath taking ceremony of the new CEC on June 24, KSU chief Lambokstarwell Marngar said: “We have decided to declare a war against drugs by working together with the dorbar shnong and schools.”
“We also demand the state government to adopt new strategies while dealing with the problem in order to completely eradicate the drug menace from society,” he added.
Later while speaking to reporters, Marngar said that the drug menace is a threat to the future of the youth and the indigenous community.
“The entry of drugs into the state is a silent invasion against our community by weakening its future, who are the youth. We have seen that people who have been arrested from areas like Happy Valley are from outside the state,” he said.
“Therefore, we will work together with the traditional dorbar to eradicate the drug menace as doing it alone is not possible. We should not discriminate against drug addicts but society has to now see them as those who need our help,” he added.
When asked, the KSU chief said that there is need for a strong political will on the part of the state government to come up with new measures that will also insulate uniform men from developing any nexus with the drug traffickers.
“In the past, we have found that uniform men are also involved in drug trafficking but we are not saying all of them are the same. However, the government should keep a check on this so that it does end send a thief to catch a thief,” he added.
Marngar also asserted the need for the government to come up with a separate cell for keeping arrested drug users and said: “The cell should also be equipped with a counselling centre to help such addicts to get back on track in life.”
Earlier, the KSU leader also slammed the state government for not pursuing with the Centre on the long pending issues which include the demand for implementation of the inner line permit (ILP), inclusion of the Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and others.
“The state government should ensure the Centre gives its clear stand on the ILP resolution,” he said while adding: “If the Centre remains adamant in its attitude, we would be compelled to take stern action and it should not blame us for the consequences because we don’t like to simply threaten but we act on what we say.”
Meanwhile, Marngar also asked the state government to come up with a proper employment policy and said: “We have to question the contribution made by the various private companies with regards to providing employment to our local people and if they are here just to exploit the state’s natural resources.”
