Shillong: Vandals targeted monuments of national icons in Shillong on Wednesday. During a Khasi Students’ Union bike rally, a bust of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was torn from its enclosure and kicked onto the road in Rynjah. Witnesses said pillion riders stopped near the R&R Colony Welfare Society office at 5.25 pm to carry out the act. The society filed an FIR at the Rynjah police station.
Nearby at Vivekananda Park, a separate attack shattered the glass casing surrounding a statue of Swami Vivekananda. A stone allegedly hit the enclosure. Rynjah Rangbah Shnong Eddie War surveyed the wreckage and called on pressure group leaders to police their own members. “It is very unfortunate that such a thing has happened,” War said.
The Gopinath Sree Netaji Subhas Bose Bhakta Committee denounced the desecration of the Patriot of Patriots. They reminded the public that Netaji visited Shillong in the 1930s and respected the region’s indigenous heritage. The group demanded that local authorities identify and punish the perpetrators.
Assam-based Kutumba Surakshya Parishad also jumped into the fray. President Satya Ranjan Borah claimed that vandals targeted Assam-registered vehicles throughout the rally. Borah warned Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma that if his administration fails to catch the culprits, protesters in Assam may hit the streets.
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