SHILLONG:
Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movementi (KHNAM) and Hynniewtrep National Youth Front (HNYF) have rejected the idea of a winter capital for the state while Garo Hills-based organisation ACHIK, which wants Tura be made the second capital, refused to call off its hunger strike on the issue despite appeals by the district administration on Monday.
KHNAM working president Thomas Passah on Monday said the demand of the ACHIK to have Tura as a winter capital is without substantial justification and there is any other obstacle for people to travel from Tura to Shillong.
“If the demand is made in order to spread economic growth and helps bring about development then we will need to have more capitals in the state, especially in those areas and districts which are lacking in development be it West Khasi Hills, Jaintia hills or Ri Bhoi District etc,” Passah said in a statement.
“The fact is that the major share of development has been channelised to Garo Hills for the past decades, if we start to list down the amount of funds from various departments allocated to Garo hills, we will see that Tura is the least deserving to be named as a winter capital based on development,” he added.
Passah said in India only Himachal Pradesh has two capitals namely Shimla and Dharamshala but the reason for this is that the snow and roadblocks in harsh winters make it difficult to reach Shimla adding “whereas in the case of Meghalaya there is no such reason to have two capitals.”
He said Shillong remained the only capital of undivided Assam until the creation of the new state of Meghalaya on January 21, 1972, when Shillong became the capital of Meghalaya and this has to be maintained as the only capital.
“Therefore such demands do not deserve attention, moreover such demands will overburden the state finance with unwanted additional expenditure,” he added.
ACHIK FIRM
ACHIK, which is also demanding implementation of the job reservation policy retrospectively besides winter capital has refused to call of their protest.
The ACHIK leaders told West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Jagdish Chelani, who visited the hunger strike venue on Monday in Tura, that they will continue with protest unless Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma pays them a visit at the strike venue and discuss their demands.
The chief minister is due to visit Tura next week, informed the deputy commissioner during his interaction with the protest leaders.
He, however, dismissed the ACHIK leaders demand that the chief minister pay them a visit at the hunger strike venue, pointing out that, “It is the prerogative of the chief minister where to meet and his doors have always been open for everyone.”
The ACHIK leaders, including former state civil servant bureaucrat and hunger strike participant Laben Marak, expressed disappointment that despite their protest touching one week no elected MLA from the Garo Hills or the state has paid them a visit.
“Not a single MLA has visited us. We feel discriminated,” added ACHIK leader and advocate Barnita Marak.
Chelanii clarified that chief minister Conrad K Sangma has been taking a daily update on the situation and the district administration has also been observing the protest and the personal health of those undergoing the fast with doctors and medical team on standby.
“As of now, what they have informed us is their demand for winter capital in Tura and for retrospective implementation of reservation roster not in a single go but can be done in a staggered period of time to capture what has been lost the previous years,” said Chelani.
Expressing disappointment with the organisation for turning their initial demand of a sitting demonstration into a hunger strike, Chelani said they were resorting to “arm twisting” .
“They should end their hunger strike right now. The sit-in itself is a strong tool for the government to recognise if there have been any issues or concerns by the public,” he said.