SHILLONG, Oct 15: Senior BJP leader and Pynthorumkhrah MLA Alexander L. Hek on Thursday defended the Durga Puja celebrations at RR Colony, stating that the festival has been observed there for more than six decades and that all arrangements remain within the temple premises.
Hek, a former three-time MLA from the area and a long-time resident, said the panels and cultural programmes were located inside the temple.
“We are celebrating the Durga Puja for the last more than 60-70 years here in RR Colony. But in RR Colony, we are celebrating Puja inside the temple. All the panels are inside the temple. Everything is inside the temple,” he said.
He questioned the need to shift the celebrations to another facility next year, maintaining that the existing arrangements had not disrupted traffic on the road. At the same time, he agreed that roadside pandals or structures that obstruct the movement of people and vehicles should not be permitted.
“On the roadside, we should not allow any Puja pandal or anything which is disrupting the movement of the people and also the movement of the traffic,” he said.
Hek said he supported the Deputy Commissioner’s position on preventing traffic obstruction but insisted that the RR Colony celebrations should be viewed in the context of their location inside the temple.
On the wider question of protests, Hek said peaceful demonstrations were permitted under the Constitution, provided they remained within the legal framework. He clarified that his remarks applied to all protests, including those currently under way in Delhi.
“I’m not talking only about the protest in Delhi, any protest, if it is within the framework of the Constitution, a peaceful protest will not be any provocation,” he said. “We have to, within the legal framework, within the framework of the Constitution of India, we should have a very peaceful protest. But anybody taking the law in their hand, it has to be punished as per law.”