Shillong, Aug 6: The Voice of the People’s Party (VPP) on Thursday took to the streets with hundreds of supporters, marching towards the Meghalaya Secretariat to press the MDA government on what it describes as 10 key public issues.
While the turnout was sizeable, it fell well short of the party’s claim last week that more than one lakh people would participate in the march. More striking, however, was that many protesters appeared unaware of the very issues they had gathered to support.
During the march, we spoke to several participants and asked a straightforward question: What is the VPP protesting about today? Although a few were able to offer partial answers, many struggled to explain the purpose of the protest or identify the party’s key demands.
According to the VPP, the march was organised to demand the implementation of the Lum Pongdeng project along with the release of a White Paper, an independent examination of recruitments made through the DSC, MPSC and other recruitment agencies, stronger protection of indigenous rights, legislation to regulate migration and identify the indigenous population, restoration of the rights of street vendors, recognition of traditional village heads and their councils, stricter regulation of coke and cement industries, protection of rivers and other water bodies, an end to indiscriminate sand and stone extraction and the dumping of waste into water sources and decisive action against illegal coal mining, transportation and the syndicates allegedly involved.
Yet, despite these being the stated objectives of the march, many supporters interviewed on the ground were unable to explain them.
The protest also comes less than three weeks before the Autumn Session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, scheduled from August 24 to August 28, where the opposition will have the opportunity to raise each of these issues through debates, questions and motions on the floor of the House.
Ahead of Thursday’s march, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma questioned the need for a street protest when the Assembly session was just around the corner. He reiterated that the government remained open to discussions and said the Legislature was the appropriate democratic forum for elected representatives to pursue such matters.
In what can be called as an awkward moment, VPP MDC and Executive Member Powell Sohkhlet on Thursday led chants of “Down, Down” against political parties including the NPP, BJP, UDP and HSPDP but also appeared to include the VPP, the very party he represents.
The incident suggested that many in the crowd were more focused on echoing the slogans than paying attention to what was actually being said, following the lead of their leaders without question.
 on Thursday took to the streets with hundreds of supporters, marching towards the Meghalaya Secretariat to press the MDA government on what it describes as 10 key public issues.){kind=link}