Pressure groups in Garo Hills are fighting tooth and nail against non-tribal participation in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) polls but are largely preying on tribals in the hills rather than protesting in the plains belt where the majority of non-tribals in Garo Hills reside.
This was the gist of a press release from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state vice-president Bernard Marak today, who called on the authorities to ensure a free and fair election.
Numerous NGOs are opposed to the participation, either as voters or candidates, of non-tribals in the district council and have called for a boycott on Monday’s polling day as well as forms of protest that run counter to a High Court of Meghalaya order.
Marak called for “strong action” to be taken against those violating the High Court directive.
“The non-tribal candidates are contesting in the plains areas but every year the NGOs disturb the hill areas during GHADC election,” Marak said.
He tried to assuage the pressure groups by saying that the BJP will frame rules to exclude non-tribal participation, as is seen in the district councils representing Khasis and Jaiñtias (KHADC and JHADC).
“It is not fair that the weaker section of society becomes easy prey to these NGOs during GHADC elections. They do this every five years before election with the sole motive to disturb hill voters,” Marak stated.
Instead, the protesting groups should have put pressure on the GHADC executive committee all these years to change the rules rather than waiting until just before the elections, he added.
