Shillong, Aug 26: The Hynñiewtrep Youths Council (HYC) president Roy Kupar Synrem and other leaders of the pressure group were summoned to court today in connection with their protest at NEIGRIHMS on April 4.
HYC President Roy Kupar Synrem, along with other senior members, appeared before the court after an FIR and charge sheet were filed against them.
Members of the HYC descended on the central teaching hospital on the day in question and forced the closure of the Director’s office after its various demands regarding recruitment were not met by its imposed deadline. The protesters forcibly shut down his office and forced staff, mostly local women, out of the building during lunchtime.
Speaking two days later, the Director, Dr Nalin Mehta, had said, “Such actions create fear and are unwarranted in a hospital setting.”
The HYC painted a different picture, with Synrem stating today that the pressure group’s members met Dr Mehta that day and the meeting had ended cordially.
However, the HYC leaders were informed today that an FIR and charge sheet had been filed against them. Five members of the HYC, including Synrem, have been accused of criminal intimidation directed at the Director of NEIGRIHMS and staff, criminal trespass and assault.
Synrem stated that the HYC would not be deterred and would continue to fight for, as he put it, the rights and interests of indigenous people of Meghalaya.
The HYC was largely unsuccessful in its demands at NEIGRIHMS as the institute follows central government rules and cannot set its own recruitment, testing or reservation policies.
