Garo Hills has been on the boil for a while. Militants have had unfettered control of civic space. Even the ANVC which is on a suspension of operations (SOO) contract with Government of India is not confined to the camp. Its members roam around with weapons and continue to extort and intimidate. The GNLA and other factional groups of the ANVC are creating terror and mayhem. Apart from getting more central forces to supplement the shortage of police manpower, there is no comprehensive strategy for tackling militancy and its noxious spin-offs. The people of Garo Hills are living in under siege since militants seems to be having the upper hand. Add to this the growing cases of rapes and molestations and you have a perfect recipe for disaster. That one of the rapists should be a cop and that he should be absconding and beyond the reach of the law has angered and frustrated the people. It is this pent-up frustration and sense of hopelessness which led to the bedlam of Friday evening. While it is true that there was an attempted molestation, the situation should not have spiralled out of control. Garo Hills is a tinder box waiting to erupt. The Friday incident was just a matchstick that was needed to conflagrate this tinder box.
It is unfortunate that the Tura incident has reverberated in South Garo Hills where several people have been targeted and some have lost their lives. This should not have been allowed to happen. The other districts of Garo Hills should have been on high alert to contain the snowballing effect of communal violence. This did not happen. There is a distinct lack of cohesion in the manner in which Garo Hills is being administered today. Reports from senior and responsible citizens that police personnel are not visible along the highway to Tura, to instil a sense of safety and security among the citizens is surprising since the situation is still tense. Is all this also because of a lack of leadership in the Police? Stop gap appointments to the post of the Police Chief in the State has created its own dilemma. It appears that the person holding the post was averse to being there and has had it thrust upon him. These are developments that can no longer be brushed under the carpet but must be tackled head on. Will the Government take some quick action to contain this cycle of violence?