From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: The first ever mass stone pelting in Shillong has evoked widespread reaction even from the Centre and other parts of the country, besides damaging the reputation of the hill city, known as Scotland of the East, as a cosmopolitan.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju has condemned the incident and the National Commission for Minorities is rushing one of its Sikh members to the Meghalaya capital.
A ministerial team from Punjab is already in the northeastern city to assess the situation.
But this practice of pelting stones by protesters, something that has so far been associated with Kashmiri protesters, has taken all by surprise.
This correspondent, during one of the visits to the northern state last year had been cautioned by the J&K police chief that this trend, unless arrested might spread to other parts of the country!
Stone pelting in Kashmir refers to criminal rock throwing primarily by Kashmiri youths who pelt, bombard or throw stones on Indian Armed Forces and Jammu and Kashmir Police. In the local language, it is termed as Kanni Jung, which means fighting with stones and the stone pelters are called Sangbaaz.
Young Kashmiris use stones and rocks as their weapon of choice against government armed forces, side-stepping the tag of a terrorist movement linked with Pakistan.
The unrest represents a conscious transition to an unarmed mass movement, one analyst said.
This stoning has also a religious parallel first used by young agitators in troubled Palestine. Stoning of the ‘Devil’ is part of the annual Islamic Haj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
In Shillong, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had hinted at external forces instigating the protesters.
The unfortunate trend has taken a political colour with the main opposition party blaming the chief minister for the widespread violence and even trying to stake claim for formation of the government since it is now the single largest party. The needle of suspension also points to one politician who is behind this sudden outburst ostensibly because he missed the ministerial berth.