Shillong: Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Prestone Tynsong on Thursday said women should be free to move around at night, even as he called for greater coordination between families, communities and the government to tackle rising criminal activities.
Responding to concerns over crimes against women, Tynsong said the government was “on the job” to deal with criminal activities but stressed that ensuring safety also required the participation of citizens.
“We need to have a very close partnership among ourselves, stage by stage,” Tynsong said, calling for parents, children, communities and the government to work together.
He suggested that people undertaking unavoidable late-night trips should inform relatives, neighbours or the people they are visiting about their movements.
However, when asked whether such advice effectively restricted a woman’s freedom to move around at night, Tynsong said the government was not seeking to impose such restrictions.
“No, no, what I’m saying is we are not here to stop that. You can walk, why not, freely,” he said.
Tynsong said the police have identified and designated certain places for security, but acknowledged that crimes can occur outside such locations and that neither citizens nor the police can predict where criminal activity may take place.
“You don’t know where this criminal activity will happen. We don’t know,” he said.
He said this was why greater cooperation between individuals, families, communities and the government was needed to improve public safety.
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“If we closely work together, I’m telling you, we will be able to make sure that safety prevails everywhere or anywhere you go,” Tynsong said.
His remarks come amid concerns over recent incidents of crime in Shillong, including attacks and snatching incidents, which have raised questions over the safety of people, particularly women, in public spaces.
He also defended the frequent transfer of Superintendents of Police heading the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), saying changes in leadership would not affect the government’s fight against drugs.
Tynsong was responding to concerns over the effectiveness of the ANTF amid repeated changes in the officer heading the dedicated anti-drug unit.
“If you find that when today I transferred the SP, the officer who’s looking after this responsibility, if you say that this supplying of drugs or this drug addicts and all, they move freely, you tell me,” Tynsong said.
He said transfers were carried out based on the functioning and requirements of officers and were not driven by the government’s preference for particular individuals.
“Transferring of officers is done according to the real issue of the functioning of the officers,” he said.
“It is not that because I want Mr A or Mr B or Mr C. We have a due process how to go about it,” Tynsong added.
He said the government would ensure that changes in personnel do not disrupt the functioning of the ANTF or weaken the ongoing anti-drug operation.
“At the same time, we will make sure that dislocation of responsibility does not affect,” he said.
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