GANGTOK, : State BJP on Saturday demanded that the Samson Tamang hate speech
case be investigated by an inquiry commission headed by a sitting High Court
Judge. The party also sought that unnecessary comments on the whole episode,
which are further aggravating the issue, are officially prohibited in order to
support the ongoing investigations.
Addressing
a media conference here, State BJP spokesperson Passang Sherpa contended that
Samson was not acting alone while making offensive remarks against the Khas
community.
The
Sikkim Chief Minister yesterday in the Assembly said that there are certain
people from within and outside the State who are trying to spread unrest
here…this means that the Sikkim government knows who these people or groups
are, said Sherpa.
Based
on the persons named by the accused on his social media videos and the names he
gave to the media while being brought to Sikkim by police makes it important to
find out where the actual root lies, said the State BJP spokesperson.
Hence,
an enquiry commission must be constituted for a deep investigation on this to
find the involvement of unknown forces and the commission should be monitored
or headed by a sitting High Court Judge, said Sherpa.
Samson
had been traced and apprehended from Bodhgaya by a Sikkim Police team on
February 19 and brought to Gangtok on February 21. He is presently taken in
five days of police custody for further investigationsrelated
to complaints that he made offensive remarks against Khas community.
“Also,
the unnecessary comments on this matter must stop from today till the
investigations are completed and for this I request the Chief Minister, the
Governor and the Sikkimese society. We Sikkimese must live in communal harmony
and let’s not go further on such divisive discussions,” said the State BJP
spokesperson.
Asked
on this particular demand, Sherpa maintained that Sikkim is a very politically
sensitive State and political parties are competing for political gains from
the Samson Tamang case.
“We
are requesting everyone to put an end to needless social media comments, our
overreaction will only make the matter worse. If an order is issued from the
authorities that no one is to make unnecessary comments then it will support
the ongoing investigation and at the same time, put an end to attempts of
political adversaries to poison the Sikkimese society,” said the State BJP
spokesperson.
To
a question, Sherpa mentioned that such differences on communal lines could also
hamper the tribal status demand of the 12 left-out Sikkimese communities.
We
should avoid infighting among each other...the Government of India, which
ultimately fulfils the demand, has agencies that are looking at our infighting,
he said.
The crux issue is that the political rights of the 12 communities must be secured in these 50 years of Sikkim’s democratic journey with India and we must work in that direction with unity, said Sherpa, extending the State BJP’s support to the demand.
Pic:
State BJP spokesperson Passang Sherpa speaking to the media. SE Pic
