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Assam lawmakers demand NIA probe into Shillong violence
A protest rally by a tribal organisation turned violent leaving several non-tribal persons severely injured and vehicles damaged in Meghalaya’s Shillong Friday
Cutting across political lines, the lawmakers in Assam’s Barak Valley have demanded a national Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into Friday’s incident in Meghalaya’s Shillong, where a protest rally by a tribal organisation turned violent leaving several non-tribal persons severely injured and vehicles damaged.
The rally was organised by the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) demanding that the state government fill up vacant posts in various departments, and offer other employment opportunities to youngsters.
Lawmakers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Barak Valley have raised their voices against the alleged attack.
Assam Congress working president and North Karimganj MLA, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha wrote letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of both Assam and Meghalaya demanding proper investigation into the incident.
On Monday, Dey Purkayastha met the director general of Meghalaya police and appealed him to ensure adequate securities to non-tribals living in the state.
BJP MLA Krisnendu Paul on Monday wrote a letter to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma demanding proper investigation by NIA.
He told HT that the attacks on non-Garo and non-Khasi residents and passengers in Meghalaya is not new but it has become an annual affair now.
“There must be something big behind these regular attacks and it has to be investigated properly. We believe that an NIA investigation will be more impactful,” said Paul, also the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
“We want our chief minister to initiate the talk first. We’ll go to the Union home minister and the Prime Minister later, if required. We need to bring peace to continue the overall development of the country,” he said.
TMC leader and Rajya Sabha MP from West Bengal, Sushmita Dev also expressed concern over the Shillong violence. “Peaceful protest is everyone’s right but I condemn the violence,” she said.
She also alleged that the Meghalaya government is surprisingly silent on this issue. “I want to question the government on why the state police was a silent by stander as is being reported by the media and seen on social media. This is a failure of the Meghalaya government,” she added.
Some videos capturing moments of violence went viral on social media and according to the Meghalaya police, multiple cases have been registered. On Monday, police in Shillong arrested one person for alleged involvement in the incident.
The Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP), which organised the rally on October 28, however expressed regret on the violence and apologised for the attack on common men.
Apart from legislators, students, social activists and a large number of netizens from Barak Valley also condemned the violence in Shillong.
Students from Assam University’s Law Department on October 29 staged a dharna at the university campus.
Some other student groups and lawyers staged protest sand they wrote letters to the Union government and Assam government.
