Implementation of ILP stirs protests
SHILLONG: In what can be termed as year of agitation, the year 2013 was full of night road blockades, bandhs and office picketing over the demand of implementing Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state to check influx.
As per the statistics, there were thirty four days of road blockade called by the pressure groups in East Khasi Hills district alone from September 4 till December 6.
It was an open fact that the night road blockades called by the pressure groups had adversely affected the normal functioning of the State and the national highways
In addition, office picketing was called on six days in the last four months of the year and the attendance in Government offices was relatively low during all the days of office picketing.
In the period of agitations, bandh ranging from 12 to 24 hours was also called on four occasions by the pressure groups throwing the city out of gear on all occasions.
On two occasions, sit in demonstration was organised by different NGOs in the capital city and besides a hunger strike was also organised on one day.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, M Kharkrang while talking on the issue of frequent agitations recently asserted that agitations in any way disrupts normalcy, affect business and even the poor people who are earning on daily basis. Most of the poor people flocking in from rural areas have to go for days on end sans any profit.
He also added that the police has submitted charge sheet in many cases and would try every bit to submit the chargesheet in all the cases for early completion of trials against the miscreants who have been arrested for different crimes in the city during the period of agitations.
It may be mentioned that more than 121 cases have been registered while 87 people have been arrested and three people have lost their lives in the state during the period of agitations for Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the State.