‘Pala not controlling MIPRL’
East Jaintia Hills firing incident
SHILLONG: The Movement for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Livelihood Meghalaya (MIPRL) has demanded a judicial inquiry into the September 24 firing incident which claimed two lives in East Jaintia Hills District.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, MIPRL vice-chairman Erwin K Syiem Sutnga said that the truth can be revealed only through an independent judicial inquiry by a sitting or retired High Court Judge since the district administration is engaged in a massive cover-up of the whole incident.
“MIPRL also supports the demand of the Joint Action Committee that an enquiry should be done by the CBI and all the involved officers should be suspended and transferred out of Jaintia Hills,” Sutnga said.
According to MIPRL, there have been news reports relating to the allegations made by DSP K. Karthikeyan that on September 24 there was firing by the public on the police personnel at Mukhep, East Jaintia Hills, in which two innocent lives were lost and that the Magistrate on duty, R. S. Manner, had ordered a lathicharge and firing in the air to disperse the crowd.
“On the basis of credible reports, this allegation and claim by the DSP K. Karthikeyan is an attempt to cover the mistakes made by the administration because there was no public announcement for the public to disperse or to inform the gathered group that firing would take place. All the bullets recovered belong to weapons carried by the police and no police personnel were injured due to the alleged firing,” Sutnga said.
According to MIPRL, eye witnesses’ accounts state that the police were waiting in their vehicles on the road and they sprayed bullets on unarmed civilians.
Regarding the allegations that Lok Sabha member Vincent H. Pala was involved in the activities of MIPRL, the organization denied the charges and said that Pala was neither involved nor controlling the affairs of MIPRL.
“MIPRL has to meet and get the support of those in office whether it is the MPs, MLAs, MDCs, Ministers and officers of the Government both at the State and the Centre since the matter of preserving and defending our traditional rights over land rests with the Autonomous District Councils, the Government of Meghalaya and the Government of India,” the coal body said.
MIPRL further said it is actively pursuing these matters and will not rest until proper protections as guaranteed by Para 12 A Sub Para (b) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India are granted to the people of the State.