Meghalaya postpones tribal council polls after two killed amid tensions

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said that the April 10 elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council have been postponed, India Today NE reported.

The statement came a day after two persons were killed in suspected police firing in the West Garo Hills district amid tensions surrounding the nomination process.

The decision to postpone the election was taken “keeping sentiments of the people in mind”, the chief minister was quoted as saying by Highland Post. “We will sit and decide how to take the procedure ahead, but till then the decision has been made...” he added.

The firing on Tuesday took place in the Chibinang area after a clash broke out between tribal and non-tribal groups in connection with the polls, the police said.

Both of those killed were non-tribal residents, West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Vibhor Aggarwal told Scroll.

Tensions had been simmering in the West Garo Hills between tribal and non-tribal communities after a Garo man died after being attacked by unidentified assailants in January. The man was a member of ACHIK, a non-governmental organisation that had visited an allegedly illegal stone quarry in the Rajabala area to “inspect” activities there.

Ethnic faultlines widened after the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council issued a notification barring non-tribal persons from contesting the election to the council.

The notification made it mandatory for all...

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