Condemnation has continued to pour in over the deaths of five Meghalayans at the hands of Assam police yesterday.
Taking a strong view of the firing incident at Mukroh, BJP state president Ernest Mawrie said that such incidents are condemnable and should be prevented at all costs. While expressing hope that the steps taken by both the governments of Assam and Meghalaya will result in justice being provided to the families of the deceased, Mawrie implored upon both state governments to find a permanent solution to such incidents.
Mawrie offered his condolences to the families of all six victims – the five from Meghalaya and the forest official from Assam.
On the subject of incidents of arson and a sense of unrest in the state following the incident, Mawrie urged all people to show restraint and to not take law into their own hands. “One mindless act cannot and should not be responded with another mindless act,” he said, adding that the Meghalaya government should have provided better security instead of chasing away tourists who contribute to the economic growth of the state.
The Jaintia Hills Solidarity and Welfare Union condemned the “mindless act of cruelty and barbarism” by the Assam police.
The union’s Omarlin Kyndiah raked up the separation of Blocks 1 and 2 from Jaintia Hills and attachment of them to Mikir Hills and North Cachar Hills in 1951, saying that this was the first illegal action taken by Assam against Jaintia Hills and needs to be rectified.
SOMALA (Social Organisations of Meghalaya against Land Alienation) said, from the sound of the video footage of yesterday’s incident, that the Assam police fired a hail of bullets on the people who were bystanders. “Such an act by the police should not happen in a democratic country like India. This is a stigma on the Indian people as a whole and should be condemned in the strongest terms by one and all indigenous people and other people at large,” SOMALA’s Wilster Anthony said.
The Meghalaya People’s Human Rights Council (MPHRC) today called for an immediate free and fair investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the firing.
