Unique ‘knife surrender’ rally today against govt

SHILLONG, Sep 5: Ka Sur Ki Nong Mawlai, an umbrella body of 11 organisations has decided to a ‘rally pyndem tari’ (knife surrender rally) on Monday to protest the government’s failure in suspending the top police officers responsible for the killing of former HNLC leader Cheristerfield Thangkhiew on August 13.
The knives to be surrendered would be symbolic of the knife the police had accused Thangkhiew of attacking them with, justifying the shooting in “self-defence”.
Donboklang Kharlyngdoh, a member of the umbrella group said they had intended to carry out the rally quietly but people got wind of it through social media.
“The knife surrender rally will start from Mawlai petrol pump at 3 pm and culminate at Mawlai stand bus,” he said on Sunday.
Kharlyngdoh asserted members of Ka Sur Ki Nong Mawlai will not reply to the show-cause notice issued by the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner unless the government suspends the police officers concerned.
“Let the government first comply with our demands. We will then sit to decide if there is a need to reply to the show-cause notices,” a member of the organisation said.
He urged the residents to come out in large numbers to make the peaceful rally a success.
The district authorities had slapped show-cause notices to six leaders of the umbrella organisation for violating COVID-19 protocols by holding public gatherings.
The six were asked to reply by September 6 outlining why action should not be initiated against them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Disaster Management Act, the Meghalaya Epidemic Disease and COVID Regulations, 2020, for organising unauthorized gatherings in total violation of SOPs, thereby posing a risk to public health and safety.
In the notice, the Deputy Commissioner said the leaders of the group held a rally on August 25 at a “limited space” in Mawlai Nongkwar near Thangkhiew petrol pump, which was attended by a crowd of about 1,500 without obtaining prior permission. The notice marked another gathering on August 27 for a candle-light rally from the petrol pump to Mawlai Mawdatbaki.
“In the video footage shared, it was also seen that up to 1,000 people attended, many were without masks and little social distancing observed,” the show-cause notice pointed out.
Kharlyngdoh said the members of the umbrella body will also take part in the rally of the Ka Sur Ehrngiew ki Nong Malki (Voice of Malki People) on Tuesday.