SHILLONG, June 20: As the hunger strike for the resumption of coal mining enters its 20th day, a defiant JCOMSWA has called for a mass public uprising on June 22, even as the Meghalaya government shifts the burden of proof onto miners to justify slashing mining lease areas from 100 hectares to a mere three acres.
The Jaintia Coal Owners, Miners, Suppliers and Workers Association (JCOMSWA) issued a public appeal on Saturday, inviting the public to a general meeting at the hunger strike site at 11 am this Monday. The meeting is expected to determine the next phase of the agitation as the impasse with the state government deepens.
The physical toll of the protest is mounting. One member, who had been on strike since June 16, was forced to withdraw due to failing health and has been replaced by Mewanbor Biam to ensure the protest continues. JCOMSWA president Marshall SB Biam remains on an indefinite hunger strike, a protest he began on June 1.
The call for mass mobilisation follows a move by the Mining and Geology department to distance itself from reports that a new mining policy was under discussion. While the department denied talks of a “small-scale mining policy,” Joint Secretary MB Tongper confirmed that the government is demanding “proper justification” along with facts and figures before it will consider the association’s demand to reduce the minimum mining lease area from 100 hectares to three acres.
By demanding this data before the proposal can be examined or referred to the Centre, the government has effectively stalled the primary demand of the miners.
This bureaucratic requirement has done little to calm tensions in the Jaintia Hills, where the prolonged ban has crippled the local economy. For thousands of families dependent on the sector, the government’s refusal to budge on the acreage requirement is seen as a direct threat to their livelihoods.
With the June 22 meeting approaching and the health of the strikers remaining a major concern,the deadlock has moved beyond a policy dispute into a significant challenge for the MDA government. For now, the gap between the association’s demands for survival and the government’s procedural stance remains unbridled.
