Rights denied to Garos: GSU

The three-day general conference of the Garo Students’ Union, which began at Tura Don Bosco School stadium on Tuesday, has raised the lack of political and economic rights to the Garo people with several speakers calling for unity in the struggle for uplift of the society.

A public discussion on Wednesday before a packed audience of students and village elders witnessed several leaders from different organisations being highly critical of the present state of affairs in regard to the development of Garo Hills.

Outgoing GSU president Andreas T Sangma accused successive governments of failing to fulfill the political and economic rights of the Garos. He said the poor infrastructure in Garo Hills and failure to develop the region was a clear example of how the people were being deprived. He also highlighted the struggle of the GSU for the interest of the Garo people.

Joint Action Committee president Sengrak Marak highlighted the role of civil society and the struggle of the indigenous people whose rights continue to be trampled upon by those at the helm of state power. He said that the firing on unarmed protestors on september 30, 2005 was a clear example of the state’s suppression of the rights of the Garo people.

Adviser to the GSU, James D Shira, in his address called for unity. He said that recent unhealthy developments in the run up to September 30 firings are a grim reminder of how important it was for the people to be united. The conference is deliberating on ways to accelerate the development of Garo Hills which has remained stagnant for many years.

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