GNLA calls off 300-hour bandh after public outcry lA rarest moment: CM
Our Bureau
TURA/SHILLONG: The Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) on Monday called off its 300-hour “dawn-to-dusk” bandh in the Garo Hills region after a huge public outcry against the outfit.
A clarion call to bring normalcy back to Garo Hills resulted in thousands of people coming out of their homes to participate in a mass rally defying militant threats at the start of the 300-hour GNLA bandh.
The overwhelming opposition to the closure of Garo Hills literally compelled the GNLA to surrender its agenda of keeping the people hostage. The outfit announced that it was calling off their 300-hour bandh by Monday evening itself.
This is for the first time in the history of Garo Hills such a dramatic turn around of event has taken place in which the public were at the forefront of opposition to the repeated disruption of normal life by people wielding guns.
As soon as the bandh commenced (6 am) in Garo Hills on Monday people began to slowly trickle out of their homes headed in one destination- Tura Chandmari field. By 8 am over eight thousand people had assembled in the field and several thousand more came trekking on foot while others arrived in jam-packed buses to take part in the rally.
After a brief prayer meeting the mothers of Tura led the huge procession through the main roads and into the police parade ground.
Hundreds of people joined the crowd all along the route.
It is believed that the strength of the crowd came close to 20,000 by the time the last participating member entered the parade ground.
People cheered each time a member from the rally spoke of the need to bring normal life back to Garo Hills. The loudest cheers were reserved for the special moment when word came around that the GNLA had decided to abandon their bandh in the face of public blitz against militancy.
As news began to flow out all over Garo Hills on the success of the Tura rally, others joined in the chorus.
In South Garo Hills district headquarters Baghmara the public gathered at Rangku Memorial girls school to organize a similar rally in which more than two and a half thousand people attended.
In Dalu border town the public came out for a similar exercise with several hundred people while in Ampati as many as 2500 civilians joined the rally.
Only East Garo Hills remained closed with the bandh being a success in Williamnagar, Resubelpara, Mendipather and Bajeng-doba.
The district has been affected by militancy for the last couple of years and people were afraid of retaliatory attacks since mobile messages were passed around from unknown numbers warning people of dire consequences.
Impressed by the power of the people Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma flew into Tura on Monday afternoon to personally congratulate those civilians who took the leadership mantle and mobilized the people to come forward.
“It is one of the rare occasions to see the common people themselves resolving to resist to all forms of agitations. It is also encouraging to see that the people also resolving that they would take all possible steps to see that there is lasting peace in the whole Garo Hills region,” Dr Sangma said after he landed in Tura from Guwahati.
He also lauded the United Church Peace Forum, women’s organisation, youth bodies and other civil society groups for their initiative towards bringing lasting peace in Garo Hills.
On the issue of disruption of schools due to deployment of security personnel in the campuses, Dr. Sangma said, “What needs to be done is that such disruption does not take place again and hence necessary directions have been given to the DGP.”
It may be mentioned that Chief Minister also holds with various senior police official to review the existing situation in Garo Hills.
Meanwhile, UDP has hailed the people of Garo Hills for their collective wisdom, courage and resilience they have shown in facilitating the withdrawal of the GNLA-sponsored bandh.
The party urged the Chief Minister to initiate dialogue with the outfit to pave the way for resolving the conflict at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the ANVC (B) has congratulated the citizens of Garo Hills who came out openly against the bandh culture of GNLA.
In a statement issued here on Monday, Chairman ANVC (B) Rimpu N Marak said, “It is a victory over dictatorial reign of GNLA and we salute such courage.