From Our Correspondent
TURA: Confusion reigned supreme in Garo Hills towards the fag end of the week-long GNLA bandh on account of two conflicting reports on the actual timing of the outfit’s closure call.
The GNLA had announced 144-hour all Garo Hills bandh beginning on Monday but two reports gave diverse timing of its conclusion.
While one report mentioned Friday evening as the end of the bandh, another mentioned Saturday evening as the actual end to the closure.
The GNLA also failed to put across the true picture of its bandh timing thereby fuelling further speculation.
In the absence of any actual confirmation the citizens of Garo Hills remained in the dark as a result of which there were mixed responses to the bandh’s conclusion.
On Friday evening, vehicular traffic and pedestrians ventured out onto the streets of Tura but the same did not take place in other towns namely Williamnagar, Baghmara, Resubelpara, Mendipather and Bajengdoba. These towns observed a total shutdown on Friday evening.
In the backdrop of the confusion, there were frantic calls from citizens to media houses seeking information on the bandh timings.
The week-long bandh passed off peacefully with no untoward incidents. Reports of killings and attacks in different parts of Garo Hills were found to be untrue and some trouble makers tried to create panic and confusion by sending out mobile messages threatening civilians with action over bandh violations.
In the face of trouble and confusion, the Garo Students’ Union has appealed to the Meghalaya government and the GNLA to come to the negotiation table to sort out their differences to halt the undue suffering to the citizens of Garo Hills.
“Meghalaya government must have a serious and sincere thought for the people of Garo Hills who are being made to suffer because of the ongoing crisis where the poor and needy are the worst suffers,” the GSU leadership said.
