TURA: A seven hour long dawn to dusk shutdown of shops and business establishments impacted trade and commerce across the Garo Hills on Tuesday. No untoward incidents were reported from any of the five districts of Garo Hills even as security was tight at vulnerable places.
The protest closure was called by a conglomerate of student and pressure groups led by the Garo Students union to condemn the attack on KSU activists by a mob at Ichamati village of East Khasi Hills which led to the death of one person, last week.
A call for trade to be suspended across the region from 9 AM to 4 PM was given by the GSU, FKJGP, ADE, AYWO and others and it led to business centres across towns in the region remaining shut during the daytime.
Tura market, the main bazaar at Williamnagar, Baghmara, Ampati, Mendipather and smaller towns like Resubelpara, Kharkutta, Dainadubi, Adokgre, Bajengdoba, Garobadha, Rongram, Dalu, Phulbari, Nangalbibra, Jadigittim, Rongjeng, Songsak, Dadenggre were some of the places where trade was severely impacted by the closure.
However, the call for closure was partial in some parts of the minority dominated plains belt, especially Rajabala, Bhaitbari, Hat Singimari and Mahendraganj border town.
On the eve of the protest shutdown, security forces fanned out across the region and night checking of vehicles and commuters took place to ward off trouble makers.
In Tura, the main market hubs at Ringrey, Chandmari, Araimile, Hawakhana and main bazaar had all their shutters down. They opened up for business only by late afternoon.
However, barring the shops closure, life went on as usual with vehicular traffic on the roads, students attending school while government employees headed for the day’s work in the morning.
“There has been no reports of any incident but we are maintaining a tight vigil and forces deployment will remain during the night also,” informed West Garo Hills Superintendent of Police MGR Kumar.
photo caption: Tura’s main market remains shut during the protest call with posters calling for a strike visible on walls and gates of shops in the bazar. ST photo
