Alleging harassment of party workers, the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for the immediate removal of West Garo Hills’ Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police.
State BJP president Ernest Mawrie met with Governor Satya Pal Malik and submitted a memorandum to the latter in this regard.
The saffron party is also demanding a judicial inquiry into the circumstances that led to the arrest of its state vice-president and Tura MDC, Bernard Marak.
Police had on July 22 raided a farmhouse belonging to Marak in Tura, alleging that it had been operating as a brothel. Several dozen people were arrested and a few minors were rescued. Marak then went on the run, claiming that his life was in danger, before being arrested in Uttar Pradesh and then being transferred to Meghalaya.
Speaking to reporters outside Governor’s House, Mawrie maintained that both the DC and the SP should be removed for a fair investigation to be possible.
Mawrie and even the BJP member in charge of Meghalaya, Chuba Ao, have stood firm behind Marak, claiming that he is the victim of a political conspiracy. Marak is a strident critic of the Chief Minister and was considering a run against the CM in next year’s state elections.
Besides the police’s treatment of Marak, the party also claimed that the SP had harassed the BJP’s Tura unit general secretary on July 25, “detaining” him at the police station for several hours and then being summoned again on two consecutive days “without valid reasons”.
“The police never took his statement. We were also denied permission by the district administration to carry out a peaceful protest rally, which is a gross violation of our fundamental rights,” Mawrie said. “The BJP party workers are receiving summons from police and detained for hours every day and the intent seems to be laced with ulterior motives coupled with blatant abuse of power.”
The BJP will meet the Chief Minister on its demands. Mawrie said that the Governor had assured him that he will discuss the matter with the government.
When asked if the CM is scared of the BJP in his South Tura seat, Mawrie simply said that his party is growing rapidly in Garo Hills, which may be one of the reasons that Marak was targeted.
Despite the bad blood, the BJP will remain a part of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government.
“If the party central leadership tells us to withdraw support from the MDA, we are ready to do that immediately but cannot take this decision in our own capacity,” Mawrie explained. “We have sent all our inquiries into this case and are waiting for the response from the central leadership.”
