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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | ‘Where is the development, where are the services?’: Patricia Mukhim -Sanjoy Hazarika

‘Where is the development, where are the services?’: Patricia Mukhim -Sanjoy Hazarika

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published Published on Sep 10, 2021   modified Modified on Sep 28, 2021

-The Hindu

A troubled Meghalaya will see unrest growing until 2023, when the next elections are due, says the editor of ‘The Shillong Times’, Patricia Mukhim

On August 13, an ailing former leader of an armed group was shot dead in the middle of the night at his home in Shillong by a police team. The incident led to unrest in Mawlai where the encounter occurred and resonated in the adjoining neighbourhoods of Mawkhar and Jaiaw. The police alleged that the man, Cheristerfield Thangkhiew, among the last of the banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) to come overground from his base in Bangladesh, had tried to pull a knife, but that explanation did not sit well with Thangkhiew’s supporters or the general public. There was stone pelting on police posts and personnel, official weapons were snatched, a curfew was declared, and the Internet was shut down. Hundreds of helmeted youth rode in rallies through the area and a large crowd attended Thangkhiew’s funeral. A clamour is on for the suspension of the two police officers involved.

“There’s been a collapse of law and order since this (State) government came to power [in 2018],” says Patricia Mukhim, editor of The Shillong Times in Meghalaya and one of the country’s most outspoken editors, blaming both the political and police leadership. She traces much of the troubles to massive, multi-layer corruption stemming from illegal mining and trade of coal, which thrives despite court orders. Thangkhiew’s killing seems to have triggered an already festering unrest and discontent over failures in governance. Edited excerpts from an interview:

* Why has Cheristerfield Thangkhiew’s killing become a flashpoint?

The DGP said the police had incontrovertible evidence that he was linked to the bomb (blast in early August). But if you have such evidence, proceed against him in a court of law, file cases, do the due diligence necessary for a case to hold up in court. Why shoot him inside his home at 3 a.m.? The Home Minister said he would like to be relieved of his post. What kind of a resignation is that? He is still in the cabinet, he is still working; it’s a drama orchestrated for public consumption.

From times past, the Mawlai area, where Cheristerfield lived, has been a location of resistance. The new group active there is the Hynniewtrep Youth Council, led by young, educated people, including a lawyer. They ask uncomfortable questions: for instance, 399 crore is supposed to have been spent on tackling COVID-19 last year, but it has not been accounted for. Where is the development, where are the services? People are asking questions and they have come to a point of intolerance. But there is the other side also: the group assured the government and youth and women’s organisations that they would keep the peace, but the stoning of the governor’s convoy took place. You did not see the police there at all.

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The Hindu, 10 September, 2021, https://www.thehindu.com/society/where-is-the-development-where-are-the-services-patricia-mukhim/article36379186.ece


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