SHILLONG, MAY 7: Hours after KSU president Daniel Khyriem was arrested on Thursday ngos have demanded his unconditional release within 48 hours failing which it threatened to launch massive agitation.
Khyriem was arrested by the police at around noon but was given the opportunity to for bail which he refused. He has been sent to 14 days judicial custody. He was arrested in relation to the arsons cases filed by the district administration during the Inner Line Permit (ILP) agitation.
In the evening FKJGP president Joe Marwein said that ngos have served 48-hour deadline to the state government to release Khyriem ‘unconditionally’ and dropping all the ILP charges filed against them as well as dissolving the special court constituted to trial these cases.
“We told the state government to immediately release the KSU president unconditionally besides dropping all pending cases within 48 hours,” FKJGP president Joe Marwein told reporters after a meeting .
The state government had filed a Rs 31 crore damage suit incurred during the four month long ILP agitations sponsored by the 13 ngos in the special court constituted by it.
The 48-hour deadline is effective from today and would expire by Saturday evening, Marwein informed. He warned, “Failing to comply with our demands within the stipulated time, all the pressure groups will resort to intensive agitational programmes against the government.”
Marwein informed that the ngos will announce the agitational programmes immediately on Monday next.
Stating that the state government has refused to make any commitment during the meeting on Thursday, Marwein however said, “We are very firm that we will not meet the government again until the time that it decided to meet our demands.”
Marwein said that the only thing the state government has made it clear to the ngos is that it said there are still ways and means to drop the charges.
The ngos accused the government of betraying them by arresting the KSU leader even after reassuring them that all charges against them will be dropped.
“The state government during its meeting with ngos in July last year had assured that all charges will be dropped against us,” HNYF general secretary Sadon K Blah said.
The ngos has also demanded that the state government immediately implement the suggestions submitted by them in relation to the Comprehensive Mechanism to address the issue of influx and illegal immigration.
“We want the government to first implement the entry and exit points as suggested by the NGOs immediately,” Blah said saying that this cannot be delayed further.- By Our Reporter
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