TURA:
Chaos reigned in the town on Monday when angry protestors barged into the barricaded office complex of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) seeking the ouster of its newly elected Chief Executive Member over the question of his ethnic identity.
The GHADC, the oldest autonomous tribal institution of Garo Hills, premises looked nothing short of a battleground with armed policemen on one side and a mob of angry rebels on the other when things unfolded at noon.
Hundreds of protesting men and women descended on the council premises, breaking through security barricades and forcing their way inside refusing to listen to police officials who tried to reason with them.
The agitators were peeved with the clampdown that restricted them from holding a gathering at William Point park, a stone’s throw from the council premises.
In retaliation, the protestors, some of whom came from different parts of Garo Hills, gathered at Government College field, 2 kms away, from where they marched to the district council.
The veritable raid on the GHADC office complex by the sloganeering protesters, some of whom carried red flags and wore head bandanas, took almost everyone by surprise, police and council authorities included.
It also cast fear among the many employees who had turned up for the first working day of the week.
While the CEM, Rakesh A Sangma, and his Executive Committee had been advised against attending office for security reasons, those manning the fort, in this case the top bureaucrats of the council, quickly made an exit as the rumblings gathered momentum.
Frightened employees were left with no choice but to follow suit deserting their stations before the situation got worse.
Angry men and women flowed into the main premises of the district council in jubilation after gaining entry and soon held a meeting to denounce the new CEM and calling for his ouster.
Leaders from groups like the GSU, FKJGP, ADE, FAF and others spoke at length citing their reasons for demanding the CEM’s ouster.
Weeklong picketing
The striking groups against the CEM have announced that they will impose picketing of the council offices throughout this week.
“This is just the first day of the protests and our agitation through picketing of the council offices will continue the entire working days of the week. We will not stop until CEM Rakesh A Sangma steps down,” warned FKJGP Garo Hills president Pritam Marak in remarks to media persons shortly after their protest rally.
‘Not opposed to mixed race being CEM of GHADC’
As accusations and counter-accusations about the tribal identity lobbed about in this current flare up in the GHADC, leaders of the protesting organisations opposed to CEM Rakesh A Sangma have now come up with a clarification saying they have nothing against mixed race attaining the top post of the district council except those who have failed to follow the traditions and customs.
“We are not against anyone who is of mixed race but only against those who have not followed the tribal customs and traditions as is the case with the current CEM. A CEM will be giving crucial judgement related to tribal laws because it will be binding. The judgements will set a precedent so we would need someone in the chair who knows about tribal laws and ways of life,” claims the FKJGP leader.
Giving example, he quoted the position of current GHADC MDC from Jengjal Grahambell A Sangma, brother-in-law of the chief minister who the FKJGP leader claimed follows tribal customs and way of life since his childhood. The MDC’s late father was a non-Garo.
The attacks on the CEM by protesting groups questioning his ethnic identity had, last week, compelled his Agitok clan and his mother Gracie Margaret A Sangma to come out with a public statement to set the record straight.
She issued a press statement and pointed out that her son Rakesh was very much a Garo of the Agitok clan since she is a tribal mother and as per the customs of the Garos any child born of a tribal mother is recognised as a tribal as per the matrilineal system of the Garo tribe.