Shillong Violence: Curfew relaxed, Army shelters 500; All you need to know

The situation has eased in Shillong today and curfew will be lifted from 8 am to 3 pm but internet will remain suspended.

 

Latest News India : Tension prevailed in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong for a third day on Sunday but the overall situation has improved and curfew will be lifted for seven hours today but restrictions will remain in force. Army troops rescued about 500 people, including 200 women and children, following night-long violence on Saturday during which an angry mob burnt a shop, a house, damaged five vehicles and injured a senior police officer.

The situation had become so grave that the Army had to conduct flag marches, and authorities had to suspend Internet services in the city to prevent the hate messages from spreading.

The situation escalated yesterday after sporadic incidents of stone-throwing in the city, in which a petrol bomb was also thrown by protestors but no one was injured. Protestors clashed with security personnel on Saturday night, forcing the authorities to declare a night curfew between 10 pm to 5 am in the city.

What triggered the violence in Shillong?

The clash erupted after a bus conductor was allegedly assaulted on Thursday by a group of people residing at Them Iew Mawlong, a Punjabi settlement in Shillong, according to agency reports. Besides the conductor, three others were also injured.

Trouble escalated when rumours spread on social media that the conductor had succumbed to injuries, prompting a group of bus drivers to converge at Them Iew Mawlong. The police had to fire teargas shells to disperse them, officials said.

However, according to several media reports, the larger matter is of community clashes between Khasis and Punjabis and violence broke out following a heated argument between a Khasi boy and Punjabi women in Them Iew Mawlong.

According to residents of Them Iew Mawlong locality, that has 350 homes of the Punjabi community, the Khasi society wants them to evict the area as they consider them to be illegal settlers since as long as 1980, reported The Indian Express. However the Punjabi community, who say they have resided in the area for 200 years now, have no intention of moving out.

Soon after the incident, several groups including the Khasi Students Union, the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) and the Hynniewtrep Youth Council reiterated their demand for the eviction of the “illegal settlers.

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Sterlite Protests: 9 dead, 20 injured amid violent clashes in Tamil Nadu (Thoothukudi‬)

The protests had been going on for 100 days since Sterlite Copper announced its plans to invest Rs 25 billion in doubling the capacity of its existing facility to 800,000 tonnes per year.

Latest News India : As many as 9 people were killed on Tuesday and 20 others injured in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin, as a protest against Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper unit, going on for 100 days since the company announced its plans to invest Rs 25 billion in doubling the capacity of its existing facility to 800,000 tonnes per annum, turned violent. The protesters claim that the plant is causing harm to its employees and increasing the capacity of the plant would aggravate the problems.

Following a gas leak in March 2013, the then chief minister late J Jayalalithaa had ordered its closure, following which the company moved the National Green Tribunal. With the tribunal overturning the government order, the state moved the Supreme Court against it, and the petition has been pending since.

Meanwhile, Opposition leaders have condemned the deaths during the protest and blamed the government for being unable to control the situation.

Here are the Latest developments in the Tamil Nadu Protests:

In a government statement, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswamy confirmed that the death toll had touched nine. He announced Rs 1 million for those who lost family members, Rs 300,000 for people who were injured severely, and Rs 100,000 for those with minor injuries.

In an official statement, Sterlite Copper late on Tuesday expressed regret and sorrow over the deaths that took place during protests against it in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin. The company said it had appealed to the government to ensure safety of the employees of the plant, as well as the surrounding communities. “It’s with great sorrow and regret that we witnessed today’s incidents around the protest today at Tuticorin. The company has appealed to government and authorities to ensure the safety of our employees, facilities and surrounding communities. Sterlite Copper plant is non-operational as we await approval for the consent to operate,” the statement read.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi called the deaths during the protest “a brutal example of state-sponsored terrorism”. “The gunning down by the police of nine people in the #SterliteProtest in Tamil Nadu is a brutal example of state-sponsored terrorism. These citizens were murdered for protesting against injustice. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of these martyrs and the injured,” he tweeted on Tuesday.

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