Following complaints from villagers after a gaonbura (village headman) was imposed on the village of Askikandi, West Garo Hills by the Revenue Office of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), an officer of the same office paid a visit to the village to inquire into the complaints.
The village has been furious after the RO appointed one Abdul Latif as gaonbura, allegedly without a public meeting on the matter. The headman had been appointed in place of the older one, Abdul Goffur, against whom there were no complaints.
According to locals, the inquiry by the GHADC officials looked at whether there was public consent on the appointment made and a hand vote was taken.
Askikandi villagers have now appealed to the GHADC authorities to restore Goffur to his role as headman. They further added that they were serious on the matter and would not allow the new headman to function as representative of the villagers.
“The appointment of Latif is illegal and needs to be scrapped. Council authorities should restore our former headman, who, until he was illegally shunted out, was doing a good job in his role. We will continue our efforts to ensure justice is done in this case,” said one of the villagers, Hashan.