Several injured as clash between police and anti-Citizenship Act protesters erupt in Shillong

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaDecember 13, 2019

SHILLONG: A rally to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 on Friday turned violent as protesters and the police in front of the Raj Bhavan.

Several persons including 4 police personnel were injured in the clash. At least 10 persons were admitted in the hospital. Of these, condition of 5 persons was reported to be serious, officials said.

The police, who have exercised maximum restrain, had to resort to lathi charge and firing of tear gas to disperse the unruly crowd that tried to storm the Raj Bhavan.

A fire-fighter truck parked near the venue was also vandalized while another a car parked inside the premises of the Youth Hostel was also set on fire.

The rally by a crowd of nearly a lakh people was sponsored by the Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organization (COMSO), a conglomerate of several pressure groups, to demand the immediate implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP).

The protesters also demanded the Governor Tathagata Roy to give his assent to the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 that seeks mandatory registration of outsiders entering the state.

The protest turned ugly when the leaders of the different pressure groups announced the start of an indefinite sit-in-demonstration till the governor approves the ordinance.

“The Centre should declare that the ILP is implemented in Meghalaya today itself. The Governor also has to give his assent to the ordinance today and if not, we will not move away from here and the sit in demonstration will begin now,” chairman of CoMSO Robertjune Kharjahrin told the gathering.

Soon after this announcement, the protesters storm the Raj Bhavan and in the melee many were caught forcing the police to resort to lathi charge and firing several rounds of tear gases to disperse them.

Earlier, protesters also condemned the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) MP from Tura Agatha K Sangma for supporting the passing of the Citizenship Act in parliament as they also accused her brother Conrad K Sangma, chief minister of being an agent of the BJP.

“We have not elected her (Agatha) to betray us. We want to remind the NPP that it has promised the people of the state to oppose the CAB during elections but now what happened. We demand them to apologize otherwise a time will come the Garo community will judge them,” chairman of the Garoland State Movement Committee (GSMC) Nikman ChM arak said.

Meanwhile, important government installations have been put under tight security cover as markets remain closed in the city.

Curfew was relaxed from 10 am till 10 pm today and as businesses centres, shops and traffic started flowing, normal life was affected as rumours started spreading that the rally turned violent.