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Shahid Samman Yatra: MoS alleges arrest in Bengal, police deny https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/shahid-samman-yatra-mos-alleges-arrest- in-bengal-police-deny-101629225218528.html Union minister of state Shantanu Thakur said on Tuesday that he was among several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers to be arrested for taking part in the Shahid Samman Yatra, in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. However, the police denied Thakur’s charge. “I came to offer puja and was arrested by the police,” the Union minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways said. However, the police denied the charge. “Cars were kept at the airport for Thakur since he is a Union minister. BJP workers started a snap demonstration and we had to stop them. Thakur forcefully boarded the bus in which the BJP workers were being taken away... He was not arrested,” an officer of the airport police station said. The BJP has alleged that 36 of its workers have been killed in Bengal since the assembly poll results were announced on May 2. The state government has told the Calcutta high court - which asked the NHRC to probe the allegations of post-poll violence - that the report is biased and prepared with a political motive. “The BJP has no base in Bengal. Why will the police arrest a Union minister? This is a lie...,” said Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy. Meanwhile, police said it arrested over 30 BJP workers in various districts across the state for violating Covid-19 restrictions, but later released them. However, Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, “The TMC government was informed in advance that our programme would be held in compliance with Covid curbs and yet our workers and leaders were arrested.”
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Bengal BJP to Hold Shahid Samman Yatra from Today, Kolkata Police Says No Permission for Rally http://www.news18.com/news/politics/bengal-bjp-to-hold-shahid-samman-yatra-from- today-kolkata-police-says-no-permission-for-rally-4094723.html BJP in West Bengal have sought permission from the central leadership to hold Shahid Samman Yatra from today, party’s state president said. “Central Ministers from our party will go and visit people who are victims of post poll violence. They will go and visit them and find out how they are doing,” BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said. The BJP is celebrating Ashirvad Yatra throughout the country, but the BJP in the state will instead celebrate it as Shahid Samman Yatra. According to BJP, 55 workers have been killed during post poll violence. Party leaders including Nishith Pramanik, John Barla, Subhas Sarkar, Shantanu Thakur and others all will be visiting victim family in their respective areas. After poll results in Bengal earlier this year, BJP claimed that there was huge violence. They have also moved to court, resulting which, NHRC team was directed to enquire into the matter and NHRC gave strong report in court. BJP in order to highlight the issue is taking out a Nationwide Ashirbad Yatra in Bengal as Shahid Samman Yatra. TMC on the other hand has criticised this yatra taking a dig at the party on rising prices and snooping issue. “BJP Prime Minister identified Matangini Hazra from Assam, we do not know which Shahid BJP will be referring here. Throughout the country BJP is doing Ashirbad Yatra but my point is what for they are seeking blessing? The fact that all public sectors are privatised? For skyrocketing price hike or for using military spyware for opposition?” TMC’s Sukhendu Shekhar Roy told News18. Meanwhile, huge police force has been deployed in front of BJP headquarter in Kolkata and police says that Kolkata Shahid Samman Yatra has no permission.
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Mawlai for NHRC, against judicial probe https://theshillongtimes.com/2021/08/18/mawlai-for-nhrc-against-judicial-probe/ The agitating residents of Mawlai have rejected the decision of the state government to hold a judicial enquiry into the death of Cheristerfield Thangkhiew saying that they have no faith in such a probe. Instead, they want the National Human Rights Commission be entrusted with the job. The newly formed organisation “Ka Sur u Paidbah Mawlai” (the voice of Mawlai people) on Tuesday also declined to be associated with the peace process initiated by the government unless those responsible for surrendered HNLC supremo’s death were brought to justice. Talking to reporters after a meeting on Tuesday, Mawlai Town Dorbar (MTD) Coordinator, Herlambok War said that the state government should hand over the probe to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) since they do not have faith in a judicial inquiry. “We are of the view that the NHRC would be able to carry out an impartial probe into the death of Thangkhiew,” War, who is also the Rangbah Shnong of Mawlai Iewrynghep, said. Meanwhile, he said that that they have also decided not to be part of the Peace Committee constituted by the state government under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong. War said that that the state government should first suspend all the police personnel involved in the killing of Thangkhiew. “The government should also book these erring police personnel under various provisions of the law. Only then we will be part of the peace committee,” he added. Appeal to return seized weapons Ka Sur u Paidbah Mawlai urged the youths to surrender the three INSAS rifles which they had snatched from cops from the Umshing-Mawkynroh police outpost along with an SUV on Sunday afternoon. The MTD general secretary said that they are making this appeal following a request from Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma and East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner, Isawanda Laloo. He claimed that the youths had snatched the weapons and the vehicle out of anger and disappointment at the manner in which Thangkhiew was killed. War asked the youths to surrender the arms to any person they trust including the local MLA, MDC or even the headmen. He made it clear that Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma has assured that the government will not take action against these youths and said that their identity would not be disclosed. The MTD coordinator also clarified that they were only making an appeal and not taking any responsibility for the surrender of the weapons since it was not their job. Seng Samla Mawlai Pyllun (SSMP) general secretary, Samram Syiem said that they are taking this initiative to make this appeal since it is a collective responsibility to ensure that the law and order does not deteriorate. “There is a fear that there would be a misuse of these arms,” Syiem added. Asserting that it is job of the police to locate these arms, HYC Mawlai Circle president Donbok Kharlyngdoh said that they don’t know if these arms have crossed over to Bangladesh.
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Three police personnel have been suspended and the government is initiating an inquiry against them. On Monday, the Chief Minister had made an appeal to the unidentified persons to return the weapons.
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Suicides of jobless youths are government murders: YS Sharmila https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/2021/aug/18/suicides-of-jobless- youths-are-government-murders-ys-sharmila-2346148.html YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) president YS Sharmila on Tuesday began a fast in Gundenga village of Gudur mandal in Mahabubabad district, demanding the State government to fill vacancies in government departments. She demanded the government to release the notification for 1.91 lakh jobs in the State. Sharmila, after beginning a ‘Nirudyoga Nirahara Deeksha,’ consoled family members of Sunil Naik, who died by suicide due to being unemployed. Speaking to mediapersons, she appealed to the youth to not take such extreme steps and said her party would fight against CM K Chandrasekhar Rao’s attitude. “I stand for the unemployed. I’m the daughter of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, who provided 11 lakh jobs across the State. Our family does not go back on promises, unlike the Chief Minister,” she said. She said that the National Human Rights Commission and the Telangana High Court had reminded the government several times about the unemployment issue, and raised concerns about suicides of unemployed youths, but the CM had ignored them. She appealed to the CM to create employment by releasing notifications for jobs, and labelled suicides of youths as ‘government murders.’
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Blast from the past: Militant group returns from the dead and throws Meghalaya in crisis https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/08/17/blast-from-the-past-militant-group-returns- from-the-dead-and-throws-meghalaya-in-crisis This past week, ending with Independence Day, was a strangely eventful one in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. On August 10, around 1.30 pm, a loud blast reverberated through the busy neighbourhood of Laitumkhrah in the heart of the city. The police, followed by a bomb disposal squad, arrived. It soon emerged that a small improvised explosive device had caused the explosion. Two people received relatively minor injuries. Nonetheless, the blast, claimed by a militant group called the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council, or HNLC, was a cause of some excitement and consternation. The once-feared group had been largely inactive for well over a decade. Then, on August 13, around 3 am, a Meghalaya police team reached the house of a former militant commander, HNLC’s “retired” general secretary Cherishterfield Thangkhiew, 56, who had formally surrendered in 2018. Thangkhiew lived on the upper floor of a two-storied house with two of his sons. The police barged into the house and proceeded to put a single bullet into him at close range, allegedly after he attacked the police team with a knife. His death, which Thangkhiew’s sons alleged was in a fake encounter, brought protesting mobs out on the streets for his funeral on August 15. The stone-pelting mobs attacked passing vehicles, including those of the police and the Central Reserve Police Force. Some of the masked protesters captured a Scorpio SUV owned by the police, with three rifles inside, and drove it around town in the middle of the day, brandishing the weapons, before setting it on fire. By evening, Shillong was under curfew, mobile internet had been suspended in four districts of the state, and home minister Lakhmen Rymbui of the local United Democratic Party had written to chief minister Conrad Sangma to be relieved of his duties while demanding a judicial inquiry into the alleged fake encounter which he was at pains to distance himself from. That night, Sangma’s private residence came under attack, with a petrol bomb thrown into the compound. The chief minister and his family do not currently stay there. Other political parties were equally quick in their condemnation, because the former militant’s killing had angered powerful organisations representing the local Khasi tribe. BJP legislator and Sangma’s former minister Alexander Hek said the police account of the raid didn’t sound right, and demanded a judicial inquiry. Congress leader and former minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, in whose constituency the Shillong blast took place, demanded an inquiry by the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission. Sangma, who leads a coalition government headed by his National People’s Party, has said a police report has been submitted to the National Human Rights Commission, which will inquire into the matter. He has also ordered a judicial inquiry. A human rights organisation based in Delhi, the Rights and Risks Analysis Group, has sought a CBI inquiry into the case.
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Shillong remained under curfew at the time of writing this report. Pressure groups in Meghalaya now want the state’s police chief, R Chandranathan, to be removed from his post. Chandranathan has defended the police’s actions claiming there was “incontrovertible evidence” of Thangkhiew’s involvement in an earlier IED blast on July 14 that targeted a police reserve in the coal mining town of Khliehriat in the Jaintia Hills, and evidence of his links to the Shillong blast as well. There were no casualties in the Khliehriat blast, which security sources say was triggered using a remote-control mechanism, unlike the Shillong one which used a timer. The ability of the HNLC to demonstrate capability of carrying out blasts that do negligible damage has been a feature of its sudden return from the dead. The group was practically unheard of in Shillong for the past 17-18 years. The predominantly Khasi group suddenly began making noises in the Jaintia Hills area of Meghalaya about a year ago, with extortion demands to coal traders and cement companies. An incident of gunfire and a couple of small blasts followed as the group sought to back up its demands for “income tax” with threats of violence. The group’s sudden return was greeted by politicians across parties speaking to the press about possible peace talks between the HNLC and the Indian government, an absurdity given that the group, according to a statement by the police chief, has 16 active members, all in Bangladesh, and a handful of overground supporters numbering about 30. Those arrested after the latest blasts include a man named Ranjit Kumar, described by the police as a drug addict who had been paid to carry out the Khliehriat blast. Nonetheless the sudden and unexpected return of the near-defunct group has already had its impact on the state’s politics, with the home minister quitting. The chief minister is yet to relieve him of his charge and has said he will decide on the matter at an appropriate time. The political pressure is building up on the state government, which was forced into a corner first by the blasts, and then by the clumsy encounter killing and the strong reaction to it. The government weathered a crisis early in its tenure when an altercation between a few individuals from different communities blew up into riots targeting Shillong’s tiny Dalit Sikh community. The then home minister, Conrad Sangma’s brother James, asked to be relieved of the portfolio a year and a half later amidst pressure from allies over another controversy related to the transport of coal which had allegedly been mined illegally. Rymbui, who succeeded him in the job, lasted one and a half years before asking to be relieved of the portfolio. The state now awaits the appointment of its third home minister in as many years, and clarity on the actual circumstances and reasons surrounding Thankgkhiew’s violent death.
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