SHILLONG, June 1 � Meghalaya Director General of Police Rajiv Mehta said here today his intention was �not to gag the press� when he pleaded before Meghalaya High Court that media must exercise restraint while reporting about bandh calls of Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC).
The High Court has recently ordered that the media must not carry statements of organisations that may �disturb the even tempo of day-to-day public life� and violate the fundamental rights of the citizens, be it in terms of bandhs, strikes, hartals, road blockades and rallies.
Discussing the issue with the media, Mehta said he had only requested the Court that the media must exercise restraint while reporting about the HNLC, which is an �unlawful organisation.� The DGP further said bandh called by the HNLC has created a fear psychosis in the people, when the cadre strength of the outfit is only about 30-40. HNLC operates in Khasi-Jaintia Hills.
�There are just 30-40 cadres of the HNLC in Bangladesh, but people still live in fear psychosis when this unlawful organisation calls a bandh. People should defy the bandh and come out,� he urged.
Further stating that the �HNLC is a defunct organisation,� Mehta added, the police are responsible for the safety and security of the people, irrespective of whether there is a bandh or it is a normal day.
On the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) � another banned outfit � Mehta said they have been attacking the Garos, although they claim to be working for the socio-economic uplift of the Garos.
�There is no ideology�where is the ideology and they are murdering people on any day. We are fighting against them and this fight would go on,� he stated. Reportedly, the GNLA, after the Court�s order has stated that it would go for a poster campaign whenever it calls a bandh.
The DGP said the police would do whatever is at its disposal, so that normal life is not disrupted. �We attempt to do our best, we may have no have control over certain things, but our fight would go on till the law of the land is restored,� he reiterated.