SHILLONG: The State government on Monday appealed to the people to defy the ‘unwarranted’ 48-hours bandh called by the proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) even as it assured that security will not be compromised to them.
The government’s statement came a day after the HNLC announced the bandh from 6 pm of August 13 to 6 pm of August 15 to protest against the NGT ban on coal mining and also to boycott the Independence Day celebration in the State.
“HNLC is a proscribed organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 since the 16th November 2000 and has been boycotting the celebrations of national days of importance through bandh calls, but the Government has taken serious not of the unnecessary bandh calls by the banned organisation”, a statement issued by the Government on Monday said.
The Government reiterated its firm commitment to maintain law and order at all costs and to ensure that the security of its citizens is not compromised in any way.
“Members of the public in general and the Government employees in particular are exhorted not to pay any heed to this unreasonable call and to come out as they would on any normal day and carry on with their daily activities without any fear or apprehension of reprisals,” the statement said.
The state government also urged the members of the public to come out in large numbers and witness the 68th Independence Day celebrations which will be an indication of “our maturity and send out a strong message that the people of the state can no longer be willfully held to siege at every turn”.
Our Guwahati Correspondent adds: Several outlawed insurgent groups in the Northeast have called for a joint strike to ‘prohibit’ celebrations of Indian Independence Day on August 15 next in the region to protest the ‘continued occupation’ on the region by India.
The general strike has been called from 1am to 5.30 pm on August 15 next.
The outfits that have called for the general strike included Coordination Committee (an amalgamation of several militant groups in Manipur), ULFA(Independent), HNLC, Kamataur Liberation Organisation (KLO), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT).
In an e-mail to the media here these outfits on Monday stated, “The people of the Western Southeast Asian Region (including N-E India) are staring at extinction in their own land due to the systematic influx of mainland Indians and indigenous culture of the region is at stake due to rapid Indianisation while the right to live is threatened by the imposition of many draconian laws. The people of the region area battling the Indian occupation forces for decades and in the name of fighting insurgency Indian government is even using population invasion – from foreign soils that are loyal to Indian as well as mainland India.”