Shillong, March 3: Former MDC Sofior Rahman on Tuesday threatened to move court against the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) Executive Committee’s recent notification making an ST certificate mandatory for contesting council elections, terming the move “totally by force, totally lawless” and unconstitutional.
Rahman alleged that the notification violates constitutional provisions and bypasses due procedure. “This notification does not follow the law or the Constitution. They violated the Governor and did not respect the District Council Affairs Ministry,” he said.
The former MDC argued that Paragraph 11 permits only administrative rules and not electoral qualifications. He maintained that any such disqualification must be issued through a Governor’s notification under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. “Disqualification must come from law, not emotions, otherwise it violates Article 14,” Rahman stated.
He further contended that the GHADC Executive Committee does not have the authority to impose political qualifications. “Any political law or qualification must be framed by the Governor and go through the District Council Affairs department with Governor’s assent. They did not do that. They notified district authorities directly,” he said.
Rahman reiterated that if an ST certificate is to be made compulsory, it must be done through a proper constitutional process. “If ST certificate is compulsory, it must come out through Governor notification under the Sixth Schedule; otherwise it has no constitutional validity. In a democracy disqualification must come from law, not from emotions,” he added.
Rahman pointed out that non-tribals have been participating in GHADC since 1952 and noted that his forefather had served as an MDC from Kharkutta. “The Constitution does not bar non-tribals,” he said, warning that the order “is like a threat” to the community.
He alleged that non-tribals are increasingly being labelled as “Bangladeshi,” despite their longstanding presence in the state. “Since the creation of Bangladesh we belong to India, before 1972 we were in Assam and when Meghalaya was created we were here. They should follow official process, but instead non-tribals are labelled Bangladeshi,” Rahman said.
According to him, any restriction on non-tribal participation in GHADC must be grounded in constitutional provisions. “Any bar on non-tribal participation must come from law and constitution, otherwise it is not justified,” he asserted.
Rahman urged the Meghalaya government to intervene before the nomination process begins. He stressed that matters concerning district councils fall under the District Council Affairs (DCA) department and must follow state policy and constitutional procedure. “If they want to pass anything, it should go to DCA, then to the Governor, and after Governor’s assent it becomes law — otherwise not,” he said.
He appealed to the state government and Chief Minister to clarify the status of the notification. “I hope they will say these rules are not valid. It is necessary to hear from the government, from the DCA department,” Rahman stated.
The former MDC said his team has already met the Governor and will challenge the GHADC’s ST-certificate notification in the Meghalaya High Court if it is not withdrawn. “We have already informed the Governor, our representatives already met the Governor. Within 2–3 days we are challenging it in the High Court, and if the High Court does not respond, we will approach the Supreme Court,” Rahman said.
