Prez visit & bandh: Security tightened

Shillong, October 20: Ahead of President Pranab Mukerjee maiden two days visit to Shillong and the thirty-six hours bandh call given by the proscribe Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) from 6 am on Monday, security within and outskirt of the city have become stringent with the security forces keeping a hawk-eye to ensure the visit of the first citizen of the country goes off smoothly.

The state home department had a meeting with the chief secretary WMS Pariat recently to review the security arrangement for Mukherjee’s visit. High officials from the home department are monitoring the security preparedness of the police regularly.

East Khasi hills SP M Kharkhrang told this website on Sunday evening that the police are on the job and security has been tighten. He said the police have been on the job for the last couple of days and now frisking is also being carried out.

Police said that they are not taking the HNLC bandh call during Mukherjee visit lightly and going full out to ensure that everything goes off smoothly.

The HNLC has called the 36-hours bandh call to protest against the visit of Mukherjee saying that October 21 falls is being observed as the 25th death anniversary of Wickliffe Syiem, founder of Hynniewtrep nationalism and the planned visit of Mukherjee is a political insult to Hynniewtrep National Day.

Mukherjee who will arrive on Monday afternoon will attend several functions including NEHU convocation besides addressing the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly during his two day visit. He would also visit the Brookside building to pay his tribute to the great poet Rabindranath Tagore and take a trip to the Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Culture at  Mawlai.

In view of the 36 hours bandh during the President’s visit, the Meghalaya government had appealed to the public to defy the bandh and come out in large number to greet the first citizen of the country.

Students from NEHU, the NEHU and National Institute of Open University (NIOS) authorities had also appeal to the HNLC to defer the bandh. But the proscribed outfit has refused to withdraw the 36 hours bandh.

As a mark of protest against the 36-hour shutdown, the Informed Conscious and Responsible Existence (ICARE), an NGO, has called a public gathering on Monday morning at Khyndailad (Police Bazaar). At around 12 noon, a musical concert has also been organized as an effort to break the HNLC bandh.- By Our Reporter