TURA:
Unsavoury scenes unfolded on the premises of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) on Tuesday afternoon when protestors, holding a weeklong picketing of its offices to prevent the newly elected Chief Executive Member from attending to his work, targeted an elected member and a senior officer who had come to the complex during the strike.
The member of the district council (MDC) from Jengjal constituency near Tura and brother-in-law of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, Grahambell A Sangma, was mobbed by the protestors who tried to heckle him when he came out of the residence of the deputy chairman of GHADC, Albinush R Marak, that is adjoining the main office premises where the strike was taking place.
As news of his presence spread, the protestors charged from the office complex below to the residence of the deputy chairman surrounding him and hurling abuses.
Angry women protestors and some leaders of the protesting groups, including the Garo Students Union president of East Garo Hills, managed to calm tempers and prevent physical harm as some among the crowd were furious and began to kick the doors of the MDC’s vehicle demanding that he step out.
The MDC was eventually allowed to leave unharmed.
“There was no question of attending the office since a picketing was taking place and employees were barred from work. I had gone to meet the deputy chairman at his residence to discuss the ongoing crisis when the incident happened. I clarified to them that the reason for my visit was to discuss how to resolve the issue. The leaders of the protesting groups were understanding and even escorted me out,” Grahambell told The Meghalayan .
Earlier in the morning, the joint secretary of the GHADC, P R Marak, who had gone to visit the deputy chairman, was also mobbed by the protestors for entering the complex. Police personnel were able to escort him to safety.
“I had gone to call on the deputy chairman not at the office, but his residence, when a false news was spread that we were attending office. Office has not been functioning since yesterday,” clarified Marak.
However, it is learnt that the secretary of the GHADC had reportedly asked officers to attend work despite the volatile situation on the ground, and some were spotted heading to office by the protestors who had stationed themselves across the various entry and exit points to the council office complex.