JOWAI:
The protest march organised by the Save Hynniewtrep Mission (SHM) at Khliehriat on December 30, saw hundreds of members belonging to five pressure groups taking part.
The protest march was against the state government’s apathy towards the nine issues they had put forth before it, which included Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) on prospecting license for coal mining.
Apart from that, the SHM had also put forth the demand for the border issues to be solved, for the Khasi and Garo languages to be included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, for implementation of the Reservation Policy, for the killers of former Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) leader Cheristerfield Thangkhiew to be arrested, and many others.
“We demand the recognition and inclusion of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo language under the Eight scheduled because we understand that it will benefit our future generation,” said SHM secretary Roy Kupar Synrem.
The leader of Ka Sur U Paidah Ka Bri U Hynniewtrep, Donbok Kharlyngdoh, raised concerns over various issues including the killing of five people at Mukroh by Assam Police and also condemned the MDA led government for its failure to come clear with the enquiry reports on the killing of Thangkhiew and punish the cops involved.
Concerned over some sections of the government’s SOP for acquiring prospecting licenses, East Jaintia National Council (EJNC) president Sambormi Lyngdoh said that the people of East Jaintia Hills are suffering because of them.
“In these sections, the government needs us to own at lease 100 hectare of land in order to get permission for coal mining, but our people have never owned such a huge piece of land,” Lyngdoh said
Lyngdoh also informed that the SHM had sent a memo to the government but has not received any response.
Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) president Robert Kharjahrin, who also spoke at the rally, slammed the state government for not implementing the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state and for not taking their other demands seriously.
The SHM comprises of the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC), East Jaintia National Council (EJNC), Jaintia Students Movement (JSM), Hynniewtrep Achik National Movement (HANM) and Confederation of Ri Bhoi People (CoRP).