By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal on Friday said that the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) had assured the district administration that the rally would be peaceful and solemn.
Stating that the Union will have to take responsibility for the entire incident, Goyal clarified that the district administration had taken all measures to ensure a peaceful rally.
“I had deployed seven-eight magistrates and two ADMs in the entire stretch of the rally,” he told reporters on Friday.
When asked why the district administration had granted permission for such a rally during night time, the Deputy Commissioner said that the permission had been granted after proper analysis was conducted based on the fact that the programme was for traditional drum beat to commemorate the Khasi Awakening Day.
The Deputy Commissioner also informed that during a review meeting on Friday it was found that the organisation (KSU) had broken routes during the rally on two occasions.
Once the procession broke the route when they came from Laitumkhrah and again when they proceeded towards Civil Hospital from Barik Point, he said.
Asked about the reasons which led to the violence, Goyal said that as per reports some boys wanted to pick up some goods from a shop and when the shopkeeper resisted they began assaulting him.
He also informed that FIR has been lodged and action will be taken legally, even as he asserted that no one would be allowed to take the law into their own hands.
“Police are assessing the situation and will take action accordingly,” the Deputy Commissioner stated while adding that the incident has sent a wrong message not only to the society but also to the outside world.
UDP deplores violence
The UDP on Friday condemned the violence that occurred during the KSU sponsored procession held on Thursday.
Expressing concern over the violence, UDP working president Paul Lyngdoh said, “Violence is deplorable and it could have been avoided.”
However, Lyngdoh said that the party also considers that it is a clear message that the general public is restive on the issue of influx and a solution should be arrived at immediately.
“But we do not condone any acts of violence,” Lyngdoh added.
CSWO condemns cowardly acts
The Civil Society of Women Organisation (CSWO) on Friday condemned the cowardly acts of those involved in vandalism and attack on innocent bystanders on the occasion of the Khasi National Awakening Day observed by the KSU on Thursday, stating that these acts would send out wrong signals to perpetrators in other states.
“Such acts of violations of human rights cannot be tolerated in a civilized society especially in a Christian State and that too just a few days after Easter,” CSWO president Agnes Kharshiing said in a statement on Friday.
Lambasting the police force for not being able to tackle the situation in time and providing security to the people despite much hue and cry, Kharshiing alleged that the intelligence wing of the Police is being used instead to blackmail politicians and topple governments.
“And it seems the Government does not dare to transfer or remove them. Calls are illegally tapped of NGOs and most probably of the politicians and of media persons,” she added.
“We jump when people from the Northeast are attacked in the Mainland but yesterday’s acts shows we are no better,” she said, adding that these are tactics to create political instability and seem to be orchestrated by someone and with the knowledge of the police, not considering the fact that in the process, the people are victimized.
The CSWO has demanded an inquiry to be conducted into the lapse of the Police so that such acts, degrading traditional customs, do not arise in future. “We were known to be peaceful and strong and we cannot gain strength through violence, because violence is perpetrated by those who are weak,” she added.