From Our Correspondent
TURA, Sep 21: The West Garo Hills (WGH) district administration’s decision to close down the Najing Bazaar weekly market due to a high-anticipated football final has not gone down well with the locals and vendors.
Najing Bazaar, held every Saturday, is a major market attracting vendors from across the district, with most selling out their goods within hours.
However, this week’s closure was ordered by the West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Jagdish Chelani in light of the large footfall expected for the football final between clan members, which has drawn massive crowds in recent years.
Last year’s final, too, saw a packed stadium and many more spectators without tickets.
The WGH DC issued the closure order and declared a dry day to prevent any disturbances during the football match, which was held at 5:30 pm at the PA Sangma Stadium, located at Dakopgre near the market.
Local residents and vendors, however, questioned the necessity of shutting down the market.
“The market begins in the morning and by the afternoon is almost clear. So the decision to shut down the market makes no sense. A set timing could have been provided to these vendors to vacate at least 2-3 prior to the final. It is disheartening that so many of these people came from far off places with huge loads that they had to pay for and then to be told that they cannot sell their wares. The poor always get the wrong end of the stick,” said Dakopgre resident, AM Marak.
“How will the market affect the football final? This is a ridiculous decision and is affecting the poor who will be spending to come to the market,” said lawyer Bernita Marak in a social media post.
The fact that the tournament is only a local tournament between clans and not really a recognised tournament to choose talent has also been questioned.
“The tournament has become popular but it is not the World Cup. In fact, even in the World Cup business is not hampered and this market being a very important one for WGH residents should have been allowed to continue. Why could they not have moved the final to another day? Trampling on the poor has now become the norm,” felt Sengbreez Marak, a resident from East Garo Hills.
The decision was also criticized for being made at the last moment, leaving many vendors, particularly those from distant areas, unaware of the closure.
Some drew parallels to a similar incident during the visit of President Droupadi Murmu to inaugurate the Meghalaya Games, during which shops from near Araimile to Dakopgre and beyond were shut down, despite an order to allow them to operate.
Defending the decision, the DC explained that with over 15,000 attendees expected, including VVIPs, the administration needed to manage traffic and security.
He also cited weather concerns as another factor behind the closure. “We had to ensure safety and effective crowd management, which would have been difficult with the market open,” Chelani said.
“Those who came to set up their shops in case of lack of knowledge of the order were shifted partially to the new building of the Najing Bazaar or asked to put up the shops in various local bazaars of Araimile and Chandmari. Our enforcement staff from TMB was there to aid the shopkeepers. And strict instructions were provided to the security personnel to neither intimidate nor engage with the shopkeepers, and only to provide security to the TMB staff. We are equally pained by the grievances of the shopkeepers and though a necessity, we do wish that there were better alternatives available,” he added.
Despite the measures from the district administration, the closure has left many Najing Bazaar vendors discontented, though they were unavailable for comment as they were shifted.