Shillong, April 26: The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (COMSO) on Saturday extended its unreserved solidarity with the civil society organisations (CSOs) of Garo Hills who have come together in unified voice during their sit-in demonstration at the premises of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC).
In a statement, the COMSO said the demand for a separate electoral roll for GHADC elections is neither an act of dissent nor division, but an invocation of a long-overdue correction in the administrative machinery, adding that the use of the state electoral roll for council elections has persistently diluted the original intention of the Sixth Schedule, which envisaged a system wherein indigenous institutions would be insulated from undue external political influences.
“By reasserting the call for a separate electoral roll, the CSOs seek not exclusion, but protection of self-governance as enshrined in the Constitution.”
The COMSO said that the sit-in demonstration being undertaken by the Association for Democracy and Empowerment (ADE), Garo Students’ Union (GSU), A’chik Youth Welfare Organisation (AYWO), Federation of A’chik Freedom (FAF), Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP), Tura Government College Students’ Union (TGCSU), and FKJGP-TGC Cell is a collective articulation of people’s aspiration for good governance and cultural integrity.
“These organizations have, through peaceful and disciplined expression, reminded the Executive Committee of the GHADC—led by the National People’s Party (NPP)—that public office is a mandate of trust and service. Their voices carry with them the echo of constitutional morality and the demand for responsive governance”.
Further, the COMSO urged the NPP-led Executive Committee of the GHADC to rise above the politics of delay and excuses and to take immediate cognizance of the demands placed before them. It said, “The GHADC must not remain a nominal institution—it must become a dynamic and reformative body rooted in the vision of tribal self-determination and accountable administration. The longer these structural lacunae persist, the greater the disillusionment among the youth, the traditional custodians, and the people at large.”
COMSO also asked tribal leadership of Meghalaya to treat these demands not as isolated grievances from Garo Hills, but as reflective of a larger struggle to preserve indigenous institutions across the state. It noted that reformation of the GHADC is integrally tied to the integrity of local self-governing councils across the state.
“Furthermore, we appeal to the Governor of Meghalaya, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, to take serious note of the grassroots discontent emerging from Garo Hills. Let this demonstration serve not as a warning, but as an opportunity—an opportunity to initiate comprehensive reform, review obsolete colonial-era frameworks, and renew faith in autonomous institutions. The aspirations of our people cannot be postponed indefinitely without consequences for social cohesion and democratic legitimacy,” it added.
