Shillong: The Autumn Session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, which is scheduled to continue till September 17, got underway here today amid tight security with concern over the law and order situation.
Even as the first day of the session was on with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and other legislators in attendance at the temporary assembly premises at the Art and Culture Auditorium in the Rilbong locality of the city, members of eleven pressure groups seeking “justice€ ” for the death of a former militant leader in a “fake encounter”€ , dumped a heap of knives in front of the main gate of Meghalaya Secretariat at IGP Point and demanded immediate suspension of three police officers allegedly responsible for the August 13 incident in Mawlai locality.
The groups, under the banner of ‘Ka Sur Ki Nong Mawlai’ (Voice of Mawlai People), threw the knives in front of the secretariat gate, which were ‘surrendered’ by the residents of Mawlai locality on September 6.
The Voice of Mawlai People, which is gaining support from various pressure groups and certain politicians, have been demanding for immediate suspension of Director General of Police R Chandranathan, East Jaintia Hills SP Jagpal Singh Dhanoa and SP (Traffic) Shailendra Bamaniya for their alleged role in the “fake encounter†that led to the killing of former general secretary of the banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), Cheristerfield Thangkhiew during a police raid on his residence.
In the meantime, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who holds the finance portfolio, presented to the House the Supplementary Demands for Grants and Supplementary Appropriation for the year 2021-2022.
The final government business of the day was obituary references initiated by the chief minister, who paid rich tributes to the memories of three prominent public leaders of the State and 17 other leaders from elsewhere in the country, who had recently passed away.
Late Obil Kyndait, Late Dr. PW Khongjee and Late Mihsalan Suchiang, who were prominent public leaders and members of the Meghalaya Assembly, were remembered and their memories honoured.
The contributions of public leaders from other states, including former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, former Assam Chief Minister Bhumidhar Barman, former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Veer Bhadra Singh and several other members of parliament and state assemblies who recently passed away, were recalled with reverence.
Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister, Dr Mukul Sangma joined the Leader of the House and Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma in paying tributes to the memories of the late public representatives. Several other legislators from both the ruling and opposition benches paid tributes to the memories of the late leaders.
The obituary references were concluded by Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh, who paid glowing tributes to the memories of all the deceased public leaders, with special mention of the leaders of the state who recently passed away, following which all the members stood up in silence for two minutes as a mark of respect to the departed public representatives.
The Speaker adjourned the House to meet again on September 13 to continue with the ongoing assembly session.
