SHILLONG: The State government has reiterated its opposition to any move by the Central government to implement the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) in the Garo Hills region.
Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of the swearing in ceremony of Nongstoin MLA Diosstarness Jyndiang here on Thursday, Home Minister Roshan Warjri said implementation of AFSPA will not bring any solution to the problem of Garo Hills.
“We have rather asked the Union government to sanction additional forces in Garo Hills to contain militancy,” Warjri told reporters.
Speaking of the incident where two civilians were killed by Army personnel in North Garo Hills leading to mass outcry and public aggression against the incident, Warjri said the State government has already ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and the State police has also been asked to take up the matter with the Defence authorities.
Asked about compensation to the families of the victims, the minister said the government was examining the matter and was awaiting the probe report.
It may be recalled that the High Court of Meghalaya, taking cognizance of the growing abductions and killings in Garo Hills, had asked the Union government to consider imposing AFSPA in Garo Hills following which there has been large scale demonstration in Garo Hills with the public and NGOs expressing their stiff opposition to any move to implement AFSPA in Garo Hills.
