Editor,
In the wee hours of August 13, while the entire world was asleep, a 57-year-old man was shot dead at his own residence while he and his family too were asleep. This man was a surrendered militant of the HNLC who in 2018, had surrendered and was felicitated by the Meghalaya Police. However, this has become an issue that has not gone down well with the public, including the different organizations, the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission and the traditional heads.
People from different walks of life have condemned this act and are demanding justice for Chesterfield Thangkhiew. What makes this issue complicated is the Police stating this as an ‘encounter’. Just like everybody out there, it makes me wonder too that why did this operation take place in the darkness of night and not during broad daylight. I am sure that if the police had suspected him of having a hand in the blast that took place, they could have got a warrant, taken him to custody and interrogated him.
Another surprising thing is that this man was brought in to meet the Deputy CM in a programme for surrendered militants conducted by the Meghalaya Police Department in October 2018 which could only mean that he was cooperating with the police and likely acting as a mediator. Then why would they want to get rid of him?
Before being deployed and posted to their respective locations, every personnel, whether employed by the Police Department or the Armed Forces, are made to undergo a training to deal with armed criminals that may prove to be a threat to them or to people around. In most situations, they would go for a hand-to-hand combat. Only in extreme cases and with no viable option left do they actually shoot a person. Under very rare circumstances would they shoot someone dead. The ex-cadre of the HNLC was said to have attacked the police personnel with a knife. If this was the case, I am sure they could have overpowered him especially since he was already weak and ill and suffering from a kidney ailment. But the fact is that the police shot him.
This then brings me to the question – who actually gave the order to shoot the man. If orders were given not to shoot the man but to bring him in for questioning and only injure him if he attacks, he would not be dead. People would not be out in the streets and over social media crying out for justice on his behalf. What is saddening is that they also took his two sons into custody. On what grounds were the arrests made? Only because they were both together with him? The fact that it was a mistake from the part of those who arrested them because they thought that the sons were his bodyguards (security) just shows the poor intelligence in the Police Department. The sons’ statement to the media that they were manhandled while in custody is abhorrent. Why this inhumane treatment?
All this just brings me to question the role of the Home Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui who surprisingly handed over his resignation asking to be relieved of his portfolio. He is a misfit as Home Minister. The tension at the border areas died down because of the meeting of the Meghalaya CM with the CM of Assam and not because of the intervention of the Home Minister or the Department concerned. What else do we have to see now? Who do we blame if there is a rise in insurgency with the recent incident that occurred on August 13? I fear that this will just increase the angst in the younger generation, especially young men who are in their prime, not knowing what the future holds for them. Who do we blame then when our youth turn towards unethical ways that would put their lives and the lives of their dear ones in danger only because they see such incidents that creates a different perception of the police force in their minds? We need someone capable to handle such an important portfolio which oversees the law-and-order situation in our State.
Yours etc.,
Jordan Diengdoh
Shillong – 2
Meghalaya Police lose the plot
Editor,
“Bangs and smoke were more often the marks of ineptitude than expertise.” This is the conclusion J K Rowling’s protagonist came to and may aptly be applied to Meghalaya Police’s handling of the current situation. From being caught sitting on their haunches with the Khliehriat blast, to the double embarrassment of the Laitumkhrah blast, and subsequently what can at best be called a botched attempt to arrest a former HNLC leader, the MLP has come off looking as inept at best. And I’m being kind!
Intelligence failure is one thing, but the apparent lack of any kind of “Institutional memory” when dealing with the aftermath of such situations, shows a complete lack of leadership amongst its senior officers. Even if we were to accept the official version of the fateful arrest of Bah Che, it is a damning assessment by the Department itself that a posse of policemen weren’t able to disarm a knife wielding senior person! Add to that the personnel abandoning their vehicles along with automatic assault rifles in the face of unarmed mobs and it’s clear that morale is at rock bottom.
The Home minister may have resigned, but senior officers remain, who are responsible for training, morale, dealing with sensibilities of the local population, etc, all of which are clearly lacking at present. With the common man still recovering from the suffering caused by Covid restrictions, responsibility for this fresh bout of violence and its aftermath lies squarely on the shoulders of senior police leadership. One can only hope things do not get worse from here.
Yours etc.,
V Khongwir
Via email