SHILLONG/TURA: The State Government has beefed up security in the border areas of Goalpara to ensure that there is no law order problem during the first phase of elections to the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) scheduled to be held on Wednesday.
The IG Western Sector, H Nongpluh said that forces have been deployed all along the border to ensure that no untoward incident takes place during the elections.
After the killing of seven Rabhas on the Diwali night at Gendamari village under Agia police station in Goalpara by Garo Hills based United Achik Liberation Army (UALA) militants on November 3, both Assam and Meghalaya had decided to beef up security along the border.
The killing came at a time when the Garos were opposing holing of elections to Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council. Earlier, several pressure groups of East Garo Hills namely GSU, AIGU, FAF, FKJGP, Mothers’ Federation, ICFS, WGCSU, AYF and ASWA have expressed serious concern over the conduct of RHAC elections in the face of simmering tensions between the Rabhas and the Garos since the last couple of years resulting in sporadic incidences in which members of the both the communities have been targetting each other.
In a joint memorandum to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, these organizations stated that the current situation was not conducive for the holding of the RHAC elections. “Never in time had both communities in question been up in arms against each other on such a large scale as was seen in recent years. The atmosphere, since then, is thick with tension on both sides and we are especially concerned about the possible repeat of conflicts if elections are held under such volatile situation,” the statement said.