SHILLONG, MAY 28: Reacting to the VPP-led KHADC’s suspension of Hima Mylliem Syiem Ainam Manik Syiem, Opposition Leader and UDP MDC Titosstarwell Chyne on Thursday said he would wait for details before taking a formal stand, but maintained that an elected Syiem should not be removed directly without due process.
“From my side, I feel I should not say anything about the work of the Executive Committee (EC). If they feel it is right to remove someone, then what can I say,” Chyne said.
Chyne said he has not yet seen the grounds for the EC’s order. “Till now I do not even know the reason why they removed him. I have not gone to office yet because I was out of station,” he said.
“I do not know the reasons yet, but once I get to know the reasons, we will discuss, because the Session is also near.”
He added that the issue would be taken up when the House meets. “We will see in the Session what we will discuss and question.”
Emphasizing the Council’s constitutional role, Chyne said, “The purpose of the District Council is to safeguard, to protect. The District Council is only the custodian, to preserve our customs and traditions, our village administration, our clans, our Hima, which has been empowered by the Sixth Schedule that has been given to us.”
He said disputes within traditional institutions are not unusual.
“As per my understanding, the duty of the District Council is to preserve that. But in the course of this administration, there are often disturbances, there are upheavals within the Hima, and those upheavals come from the Hima, not from the District Council.”
On how the Council should act, Chyne said a clear procedure exists. “My stand is that in any Hima where there is disturbance, if a Syiem acts high-handedly towards the people, does not listen to the Myntri, then there is a process through which the District Council can take up the matter if there is a complaint. There is a hearing, a show cause, and so on.”
“There are processes,” he stressed. “But there has never been a time when the District Council just directly removes anyone, a Syiem who has been duly elected through election.”
He drew a line between elected and acting chiefs. “For Acting ones, they can do as they wish, that is not the same. Remove for a month, they handle it like that.”
“But for an elected one, chosen as per custom and tradition, I feel, in my understanding, that removal should be avoided,” Chyne said.
