SHILLONG, SEPT 12: Even as stray incident of stones pelting were reported near the Tura Government college during the indefinite Garo hills bandh on Thursday called by ngos demanding a separate Garo state , Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma made it clear that he does not foresee the demand fructifying as Khasi and Garo hills will not be divided.
On the sideline of a function in Shillong, Sangma on Thursday said, “I don’t foresee division of the Khasis and Garos, it is only a bunch of people who are asking for this (separate statehood) … you have seen it and it has been there for a long time it is nothing new.”
The ngos under the banner of the Garo Hills State Movement Committee (GHSMC) had given a call for indefinite Garo hills bandh after thirteen people were arrested by the police in Tura on Wednesday for assaulting government employees including women.
Immediately around sixty people gheraoed the West Garo hills deputy commissioner Pravin Bakshi office on Wednesday demanding their release within a hour failing which an indefinite bandh will be called in the entire Garo hills districts.
As the government refuse to cave in to their demand, the indefinite strike took off from Thursday morning.
Bakshi informed this website that he has deputed magistrates in different parts of the district to oversee the overall law and order situation. He also claimed that the situation is returning to normalcy after shopkeepers in Tura super market and other places started opening their shops.
Bakshi also said that several meetings are also being held between civil societies and the district administration to bring back normalcy in the district. He claimed that the bandh did not have any impact in plain belt of Garo Hills and all shops are opened normally.
Bakshi said that security has been beefed up in the entire district.
Sangma was of the opinion demonstrating on issue of statehood or others in a democratic spirit is okay but he rued that nobody has the right to damage public property of derail the rights of other people. He said, “Trampling upon citizen’s rights and derailing the whole process of development by frequent agitational programmes is not going to do good for the people and the state as a whole.”
Saying that the demand for Garoland is not new he said this demand has been taken up number of times not only by political parties but also some other organization.”
Informing that the state and central government had already made its stand clear on the Garoland issue, Sangma asserted that Garo and Khasi hills will not be divided. However, he informed that to address the various grievances especially raised by the A’chik National Volunteers’ Council (ANVC) a settlement was signed between the government of India, state government and the ANVC which also demanded a separate Garo state.
Sangma informed that the union home ministry has indicated that the settlement with is in the final stage of completion. – By Our Reporter
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