SHILLONG: Dismayed over the varied reactions towards incidents happening in Garo Hills and the rest of Meghalaya, both by the Administration and the media reporting the same, Savio Ch Marak, the senior cadre of Garo National Liberation Army, in a statement issued today lashed out against the anomalies in presentation of facts.
This follows just after a local daily reported the murder of a 55-year-old woman at Laitmynsaw village under Jhalupara Outpost on July 3. It may be mentioned that the body of the woman, Dwisphida Dkhar was recovered by the Police from a hilltop at Laitmynsaw Village. Marak lamented that crimes of such magnitude go unnoticed just because they are not occurring in Garo Hills.
“We had prominent journalists hitting out at the GNLA for crimes against women. Are not the crimes against women in Shillong and Jowai, as the recent murder, of equal proportion?” Marak highlighted while speaking to The Shillong Times. He mentioned that these crimes too deserve national and International sympathy. “Why is that her murder failed to be highlighted with the same prominence as the Chokpot incident of Josbina M Sangma?” Marak added while lamenting the media had been selective in their reporting of events.
Marak was of the view that the administration failed to handle the situation in both the cases. “Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, Home Minister Roshan Warjri, Deputy Commissioner Praveen Bakshi and Superintendent of (Contd in P-10)
Militant outfit concerned…
(Contd from P-3) Police, Mukesh Singh were quick to react to the Chokpot incident by handing one lakh rupees to the bereaved family just to avoid criticism and public ire,” said the senior GNLA cadre who was of the opinion that the public should come out in large numbers and question the stand of the Government in the selective distribution of ex-gratia to victims. “The government on a large number of occasions have deliberately shoved this matter of fund distribution under the rug,” Marak said.
The senior GNLA cadre opined that unbiased reporting in highlighting such incidents was an immediate necessity in order to respect the sentiments of the people of Garo Hills.
