TURA, April 7: Several thousands of people on Wednesday participated in a massive rally organised in Tura by different organisations from Garo Hills in protest against the allotment of party tickets to non-tribals for the upcoming GHADC elections as well as to demand that separate rules are framed to bar them from participating in its affairs.
The protest rally was organized by organizations which included the GSU, FKJGP, AYWO, FAF, NGEA, NAS and others in which employees of the GHADC as well as citizens participated.
Organisations from all over Garo Hills converged on the GHADC office premises in Tura and participated in a meeting to send a strong message to the government on their opposition to non-tribal participation in the GHADC.
Speaking during the meeting, several speakers asserted that the GHADC was solely for Garos and to preserve their customs, traditions and lifestyles as well as to safeguard their a’kings under the Sixth schedule. They pointed out that non-tribals have no right to participate in its affairs.
“How can a non-tribal MDC preserve the customs and traditions of the A’chiks if they are not part of the community? We must be careful and strongly oppose their participation otherwise Garo Hills will become another Tripura,” GSU president, Tengsak G Momin, warned. Following the meeting at the GHADC, members of the organisations along with the public, while shouting slogans, also took out a rally from the venue to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and back to the starting point via Tura main market.
Effigies of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, outgoing CEM, Dipul R Marak, and GHADC Secretary, Rikse R Marak, were also burnt following the rally.
