AYWO urges MDA, EC to act
TURA: Condemnation continues to pour in against GHADC MDC Sofior Rahman for disrupting raids conducted against illegal sawmills by the GHADC’s Forest personnel earlier this week with the AYWO, Central Governing Body (CGB) also demanding action against the accused MDC.
Terming the incident as nothing short of a ‘staged drama’ to show off his support for the well established illegal sawmills, the AYWO demanded that the MDA Government immediately remove Rahman from the post of Vice Chairman of Forests and the GHADC file an FIR against him to show that it stands by its employees.
“Rahman is an MDC by default and AYWO does not consider him as an MDC. We recall the past instance when you were chased out of your office chamber. Do not provoke us and never take our silence as weakness,” it warned.
Stating that the operation of illegal sawmills in non-tribal dominated areas of West Garo Hills is an open secret, the organization wondered why the District Administration fail to crack down on the illegal business.
“Rahman’s interference during the raid and threatening of officials with dire consequences is a criminal offence and action must be taken against him. It is also informed that the mob led by MDC even blocked the Roads with boulders’ trying to block the safe passage of the GHADC Officials,” the organization said while urging the concerned authorities to act.
The organization recalled that the region has been known for several incidents in the past like the demand for the scrapping of the Sixth Schedule and the recent violence against police by timber smugglers, besides others, and asked if the police personnel are not safe, what can be expected for the general public.
Stating that Garo Hills including the District Council is partially being controlled by non-indigenous people, the organization urged the people of Garo Hills to be aware of the facts and let the incident (disruption of raid by Rahman) be an eye opener for them.
“GHADC is supposed to be a temple for grassroot democracy. But in reality, it is in shambles. We need to clean it up. It is high time that we rise up to protect our motherland from further dilution of our traditional institution,” the AYWO said. Meanwhile, the organization also reaped praise on the officials of the GHADC for performing their duties diligently and sincerely despite the non payment of their salaries.