MBoSE bifurcation row
SHILLONG: It has been nine years since the firing incident over the bifurcation of MBoSE which resulted in the death of four persons, but the State Government is yet to bring the “guilty” officials to book.
Several persons were also injured on the fateful day of September 30, 2005 when the incident occurred in Tura.
With no sign of action against the alleged guilty from the State Government, the Opposition Garo National Council (GNC) has compared the Mukul Sangma-led MUA Government to the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP Government in Uttar Pradesh.
Opposition members, Clifford Marak (GNC) and John Leslee Sangma (Independent) pointed out in the Assembly on Tuesday that despite Justice DN Chowdhury Judicial Inquiry Commission indicting several officers including the then deputy commissioner of West Garo Hills, LR Sangma, the then superintendent of police, O. Passi, the then additional SP, Dalton P Marak and the then additional district magistrates SN Marak and R P Marak, no action was taken against the erring officers.
In his reply, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said that following the findings of the inquiry report, departmental proceedings were drawn against the officials.
“A senior officer was tasked to carry out inquiry and the concerned officers were given opportunity to defend. As per the inquiry officer, the concerned officials were not found guilty.”
Earlier, moving a motion on the firing incident, Clifford Marak said that it is an irony that despite the Inquiry Commission revealing lapses on the part of the officers, the Government not only spared them but promoted them as well.
Quoting the inquiry report, Marak said that LR Sangma who was primarily responsible for the firing incident was appointed as the Chairperson of Meghalaya Public Service Commission post retirement and she continues to hold the position.
“After giving permission to hold the public rally at Chandmary Ground, LR Sangma later revoked it leading to confusion in the minds of the people gathered there,” he said.
Marak also said that the inquiry report revealed that the officers in Chandmary Ground were in disarray. “SN Marak was put in charge of the field and on her testimony, the order for firing was made by all the officers at a time. It shows administration’s short coming and managerial deficiency,” Marak said quoting the report.
The report had also pointed out that the officers were deployed in the field to maintain and preserve public order.
“In the material exhibits, a senior officer of the administration, RP Marak was seen speaking in his mobile phone from time to time. His immediate superior was the DC with whom none of the officers in the field were in touch. So why a senior officer, who was sent to take care of a grave situation, was engaged in such exercise was not explained,” the report said.
The report also said that the district administration was duty bound to be transparent and lay bare the identity of the caller and the gist of the conversation instead of leaving a lingering doubt.
Clifford Marak, quoting the inquiry report said that the inaction of the district administration in not sealing all the entry points to the Chandmary play ground on September 30,2005 was another grave lapse.
While participating in the discussion, John Leslee Sangma, said that a lot of money was spent for the judicial inquiry into the firing incident but yet no action has been taken against the guilty.
While four people were killed in Tura, five persons lost their lives in the simultaneous firing in Williamnagar, East Garo Hills for which two inquiries were instituted.
According to Sangma, at least Rs 1 crore was spent for both the judicial inquiry commissions (Tura and Williamnagar).
Narrating the Tura incident, Sangma said that as local MDC he had gone to attend the public rally called by the Joint Action Committee at Chandmary ground on September 30, 2005. However, the Deputy Commissioner who granted permission for holding the rally in the morning withdrew the permission in the afternoon.
Though the DC claimed that enough information was passed on to the pressure groups, the DIPR contradicted this and had told the Commission that they could not send information to all concerned,” Sangma said.
The report of the Judicial Inquiry Commission said that the District administration had utterly failed to communicate to the public about the cancellation of the permission. Moreover, the district administration miserably failed to stop people from entering into the play ground and no serious attempts were made to disperse the crowd by all other lawful means other than the use of lethal weapons.
While recollecting the incident at Chandmary ground, the South Tura legislator said that things changed when a magistrate who was not on duty came to the field along with SOT personnel. The magistrate declared the meeting as unlawful.
Though Sangma did not mention the name of the officer, the report of the Commission revealed that the officer was R P Mark.
Sangma said enough time was not given for the crowd to disperse and added that he communicated this matter to the magistrate Charmingstar N Sangma who was also present in the ground.
“President of Joint Action Committee, Sengrak D Marak wanted to communicate the cancellation of the meeting to the crowd so that they can disperse. He took the mike to tell the crowd that the Deputy Commissioner had withdrawn the permission to hold the rally,” John Leslee Sangma said.
“However, the magistrate RP Marak ordered the SOT personnel to immediately arrest Sengrak and they snatched the microphone from him besides dragging him to the midst of a group of police personnel,” he added.
According to John Leslee Sangma, the crowd came to the rescue of Marak and subsequently personnel resorted to the use of tear gas and firing resulting in the death of four people and injuries to many including students.
