Tura, July 24: Chaos erupted outside the meeting venue between Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and members of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and NGOs and pressure groups on Monday evening as an agitated crowd started pelting stones after waiting for long hours for a positive outcome of the meeting.
The Chief Minister was having a peaceful meeting with the members of the CSOs and NGOs at the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in Tura when some vested interest group(s) in the crowd started pelting stones at the office building and the security personnel even as they tried to break open the gate.
While the meeting went on for over 3 hours, the vested interest groups gheraoed the CMO building and started pelting stones. The security personnel fended off the crowd but atleast 5 police personnel were injured in the ensuing violence even as the crowd kept swelling. With no other option, police resorted to firing tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The Civil Society groups led by ACHIK that included GHSMC and others have been on indefinite hunger strike for two weeks in Tura, West Garo Hills, demanding the establishment of winter capital in Tura and retrospective implementation of the roster system/ backlog policy.
Monday’s meeting was seen as crucial to the demands of the civil society groups, who where hopeful of a positive outcome and concrete decisions from the CM. Their demands have echoed with the entire Garo Hills, with more groups and crowd joining in the protest over the course of 2 weeks. The crowd for Monday’s meeting had been gathering since early afternoon in anticipation of the meeting, with the number reaching to few thousands by evening.
As the situation turned for the worse on Monday evening, CM Conrad Sangma himself checked on the security personnel injured in the violence and overseeing the entire situation.
Till the filing of this report, the CM and his entourage, including PHE Minister Marcuise N. Marak, were still inside the CMO building along with the leaders of the various NGOs and civil society groups, with the situation very tense.
Despite the tear gas shelling, the crowd had yet to be dispersed and the pelting of stones was continuing.
Ironically, when the restless crowd had just begun to agitate, leaders of NGOs and CSOs had gone out to appeal and calm the crowd. However, they reported that the agitating groups were not their members.
