KSU president’s arrest draws condemnation
TURA/ SHILLONG: Several pressure groups in the State, which were part of the umbrella body demanding ILP, have extended support to jailed KSU president Daniel Khyriem while condemning the State Government for backtracking from its earlier promise of withdrawing cases against the pressure groups.
Both factions of GSU, ADEC, AYWO and FKJGP Garo Hills Zone have condemned the arrest of the KSU leader.
The faction of the GSU being led by Tengsak G Momin has condemned the arrest of the KSU president and demanded his unconditional release.
Reminding of the Chief Minister’s assurance in July last year that all charges against organisations demanding ILP would be dropped, Momin termed the arrest as a betrayal of the people of Meghalaya.
“Why is the Government arresting just one of us? The Chief Minister should arrest all of us. We, the 12 civil societies and NGOs are all in this together,” he said in a statement.
Momin said despite the promise made by the chief minister to put in place at the earliest a slew of mechanisms to check influx the same was being dragged lackadaisically even now which also amounted to betrayal.
“The Chief Minister may want to deter us from checking influx with oppressive tactics of this kind but we promise him we will continue to fight influx which is like gangrene to the people of Meghalaya. We condemn the arrest of the KSU president and he must be unconditionally released,” Momin said.
Extending support to the deadline given by organizations of Khasi Hills, Momin said the GSU was gearing up for intensive agitations in Garo Hills.
“The Meghalaya Maintenance of Public Order is an oppressive law meant to simply oppress the voice of the people in a democratic state. The government is highly susceptible to the idea of turning Meghalaya to a police state akin to AFSPA reigning states. These kinds of partisan acts are unbecoming of the Chief Minister. He must step down from his chair on moral grounds,” he demanded.
Meanwhile, the interim body of the GSU CEC under the leadership of Zikku Balgra N Marak has also condemned the arrest of the KSU leader while also demanding for his immediate and unconditional release.
The ADE, AYWO and FKJGP Garo Hills Zone held an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the matter.
“We condemn the back-stabbing action perpetrated by the Meghalaya Government by arresting a fellow leader of the KSU. It has been understood in the two meetings with the government that it would drop all charges against the groups supporting the implementation of the ILP in the state”, they said.
While appreciating the stand of the KSU president, the pressure groups asked for his unconditional release with 48 hours.
“We the 12 NGOs are part and parcel of the ILP movement and we stand by our brothers in Khasi Hills. Daniel Khyriem must be freed from the clutches of this oppressive government unconditionally,” they said.
According to the pressure groups, they are willing to face any hardships that the Government is planning to impose on them as they are fighting for the benefit of the people of Meghalaya.
“We are ready for intensive agitation in Garo Hills if the KSU president is not released unconditionally. This oppressive government is hell bent on stopping the movement of the people to check influx. But we will not cow down and we will fight till we have achieved our goal. The present government is anti-indigenous and is pro-outsiders for the purpose of vote banks in the election and this recent arrest has manifested this,” the pressure groups alleged.
They also asked the Chief Minister to step down and added that the Government is dragging its feet with the comprehensive mechanism to check influx.