Shillong, Sept 6: In their relentless bid to seek Justice for the Killing of ex-HNLC General Secretary Cheristerfield Thangkhiew, the ‘Sur ki Nong Mawlai’ (Voice of the people of Mawlai) on Monday organised the ‘Knives Surrendering’ rally at Mawlai as a symbol of protest demanding the suspension of officials involved in killing of Thangkhiew.
Residence of Mawlai flocked to Mawlai petrol pump and Mawlai Stand Bus along with their ‘Tari’ (knife) to surrender and shouting slogans of “We want Justice” and “Tang naka bynta i tari, ki pyndonkam da u kuli’ which translates to ‘just because of a knife they fire a bullet’.
The ‘Sur ki Nong Mawlai’ earlier had organised Black Flag protest on August 15, 2021 followed by a Signature Campaign and Candlelight Vigil on August 27, 2021 to seek justice for the Killing of the former militant Cheristerfield Thangkhiew.
Thangkhiew, 56, was killed during an alleged encounter with the police after a joint team of East Jaintia Hills police and East Khasi Hills police raided his residence in connection with the two recent IED blasts in the state at about 3 AM on August 13, 2021.
Copies of show cause notice set ablaze
6 leaders from the organisation were issued with a show cause notice by the district administration for violating the health protocol and were to respond by Monday, September 6, 2021. However, the leaders along with the crowd took part in burning the copy which was distributed to the crowd.
Marbud Dkhar, a member of the organisation, said instead of responding to the show cause notice they burnt it down as a sign of opposition.
Speaking to reporters, Hynniewtrep Youths’ Council (HYC), Mawlai circle president, Donboklang Kharlyngdoh said they are ready to go to prison come what may but they are firm in their demand to suspend the cops involved in the killing.
Sur ki Nong Mawlai had last month met the Chief Minister to raise their demand but to no avail apart from a judicial inquiry which has been constituted. Earlier, the organisation also met with several legislators urging them to raise their voice and demand for justice. They have also urged the Speaker to raise this issue in the upcoming Assembly session.
‘Knife surrender’ protest not to confront police
Kharlyngdoh also clarified that the ‘knife surrender’ protest doesn’t mean that they want to confront the police with a knife. “This is an insult to the assistant Inspector General of Police, GK Iangrai who claimed that Cherish used a kitchen knife to attack the police and hence they shot him down. The statement he made was nonsense and is unacceptable,” he said.
Banlum Lyngdoh, also a member of the organisation, condemned the government for failing to act on their demands. “The govt should respect the demands of the voice of the people of Mawlai and that is to suspend the cops involved in the killing of cherish,” said Lyngdoh.
