Five pressure groups under the banner of the ‘Save Hynñiewtrep Mission’ today burnt effigies of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Meghalaya and Assam chief ministers in protest against the killing of six people in Mukroh village along the inter-state border.
The groups comprising of the Hynñiewtrep Youth Council (HYC), East Jaiñtia National Council (EJNC), Jaiñtia Students Movement (JSM), Hynñiewtrep Achik National Movement (HANM) and Confederation of Ri Bhoi People (CoRP) did not make prior announcement about the place where the protest will take place which took the police by surprise when they gathered in front of the Chief Minister’s Bungalow at Polo here.
Superintendent of Police (City), Vivek Syiem along with the magistrates prevented the groups from the protest but were later allowed to demonstrate a few meters away from the CMs bungalow.
The group are demanding that the guilty Assam police and forest guards who participated in the Mukroh massacre be arrested, with their prosecution to be done in Meghalaya. They also want an increase in the Rs 5 lakh in compensation paid to each of the families of the deceased.
“We want to send a clear message to the government that if they cannot protect the land and borders of the indigenous people, issue us gun licenses legally. Issue it to all youths above 18 years old and then we will take it upon ourselves to protect our own land,” HANM president Lamphrang Kharbani said.
HYC president Robertjune Kharjahrin condemned the government’s decision to suspend the internet, which has affected the students undertaking examination. “This intention is nothing but government’s motive to minimise the damage done by NPP for the upcoming elections,” he said.
Kharjahrin said had the Meghalaya government resolved the second phase of borer talks within the 45 days (as stated in a notification) after forming the regional committee, the Mukroh firing would have not taken place.
“Enough is enough, we have lost many lives. It is time to pressure not the ‘Garo’ chief minister but the 36 MLAs of the Khasi-Jaiñtia region to take it seriously and solve the border dispute,” he said.
HYC general secretary Roy Synrem recalled the statement made by Amit Shah during the plenary session of the North East Council, Synrem said “Shah said that before we celebrate the 75th year of Independence the BJP government will make an effort to resolve all border disputes in NE. But we find these are just mere statements and no action has been taken.”
He added that the incident at Mukroh is due to the inefficiency and lack of sincerity of these three Governments (Shah, Biswa and Sangma) hence the three effigies were burnt.
