Petition seeks exclusive rights for Garos over GHADC

SHILLONG: Two advocates from Shillong have moved Governor V. Shanmuganathan and State District Council Affairs Minister H.D.R. Lyngdoh urging them to ensure voting rights exclusively to members of Garo Scheduled Tribes for electing members to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC).
In the petitions, the two advocates – Arnold G Momin and Malthyus D Sangma – said that even after 45 years of Statehood, no attempt has been made by the political leadership of the State to ponder for a while about this anomaly and conflict and adopt necessary measures to rectify the situation.
The lawyers said that as far as the KHADC and the JHADC were concerned, they have ensured that the council is constituted by only those representatives who are members of either the Khasi or Jaintia tribes and are elected by the persons of the same tribes.
However, GHADC is run by a council which includes some members who neither belong to the Garo Scheduled Tribe nor are elected by the Garos themselves, the petition said.