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Meghalya : Security beef-up for blockade

	June 25, 2007

The Congress-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government has beefed up security in Shillong in view of the night road blockade called by the Khasi Students Union (KSU).



The night road blockade, sponsored by the KSU, will start at 7 pm and end at 5 am everyday till Saturday, an official of the outfit, Mebanker Lapang, said in a press communique.



The KSU has called the night road blockade in protest against the arrest of five of its members, including its organising secretary Daniel Khryiem.



The five KSU members were arrested on June 12 and booked under the Meghalaya Preventive Detention Act (MPDA) for disrupting law and order.



Elaborate security arrangements have been made by the administrations of East and West Khasi Hills districts as well as Ri Bhoi district. The road blockade is expected to impact movement of traffic along National Highways 40 and 44.



These two routes form the lifeline of Mizoram, Tripura, the Barak Valley and parts of Manipur.



The Meghalaya Home Department held a meeting to review the law and order situation, following which it instructed police to be on high alert, particularly on the national highways.



Special police teams have been pressed into service to provide security in sensitive areas like Mawlai and Mawiong.



Meghalaya Chief Minister D.D. Lapang said his government would not allow the agitation to impact on movement of vehicles along the national highways.



“Such forms of agitation should not have any effect on our neighbouring states, which depend on movement of goods and passengers along this route,” Lapang told reporters.



The Meghalaya Chief Minister expressed the hope that the KSU would call off its agitation, which he claimed would have an adverse impact on the state’s development and economy.





Mani Shankar plugs Brand North-east in Delhi & abroad



Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar’s mission to develop the North-east into an international business destination has turned him into a frequent flier to the region with foreign dignitaries for company.



Over the next four days, Aiyar who is Minister for Development of the North-east, will be hosting Thai Commerce Minister Krirk-Krai Jirapaet in Agartala, Guwahati and Shillong. Russian Ambassador Vladimir Trubnikov and Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy could be Aiyar’s next two guests.



Regular visits to the region by Union Ministers are also part of Aiyar’s plans, though not many of his colleagues have been co-operating.



Aiyar got External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to travel to Shillong - en route to Indonesia and Singapore - over the weekend. It was as if he was making a point to those Union Ministers who have been turning down his requests to visit the region.



A source in the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that Union Ministers had been requested to travel to any of the north-eastern states at least once a month “to end the feeling of isolation among the people there.”



Aiyar’s enthusiasm may not have rubbed off on his colleagues, but encouragement has come from abroad. When he visited Bangkok in March for a conference, the former foreign service officer found the Thais more than willing to break new ground in the North-east. It seemed they understood the potential of Guwahati being closer to Bangkok than New Delhi.



The Thai Commerce Minister was in Agartala on Friday, leading a business delegation that focused on rubber, bamboo, handloom and handicrafts.



Apart from hosting foreign dignitaries, Aiyar’s ministry has been organising sectoral summits across the region. Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh was the venue of a power summit, Shillong hosted one on roads and highways and Sikkim got a conference on tourism and hospitality.



Aiyar is eyeing development of the North-east both through domestic and foreign direct investment. On a recent visit to Kunming, capital of China’s south-western province of Yunnan, in the capacity of Minister for Youth Affairs, he cajoled the Chinese to take a look at India’s North-east.