The state BJP will hold a one day peace protest in Shillong and Tura to protest against what the party describes as police harassment of party workers.
Addressing reporters today, state BJP president Ernest Mawrie said that police had summoned members of the party from the Tura unit to the police station to give a statement detained them there for around six hours.
“We have discussed this situation in Tura with our party workers today and decided to arrange a peace protest in Shillong and Tura tentatively before Saturday,” Mawrie said.
The party has publicly defended its MDC for Tura, Bernard Marak, who was arrested in connection with a case revolving around activities said to have been conducted in a farmhouse he owns in Tura. Police had launched a raid there on July 22.
“The general secretary of the Tura unit told us that the police called him to the police station and the SP (Superintendent of Police) of West Garo Hills instructed the GS to report to the police station every day,” Mawrie said, adding that calling someone without any reason and without any involvement in any case and detaining them for several hours is harassment.
“I will lead this agitation as a leader and the government has to stop this suppression of our party workers,” he said.
Stating that this was done probably to demoralize our party workers, he said, “We are strong and one of the biggest parties in the world and we have the government in Delhi and every North East state and hopefully will lead the Meghalaya government in the coming election and our relations with the MDA (Meghalaya Democratic Alliance) are strained.”
On Marak’s arrest, Mawrie said that the law will take its course.
“After this incident, we have been instructed by the party’s central leadership to hold an inquiry and we have done the inquiry and sent the report and are now waiting for the direction,” he maintained.
Stating that the party still condemned the raid and termed it as inappropriate, he said the farmhouse has been running since 2019 and nothing untoward had happened until now.
He further stated that the police should have briefed the media on the matter and not the Chief Minister.
