HNLC threat hits census in Meghalaya

SHILLONG, February 20: The ongoing Census 2001 operations in Meghalaya is in jeopardy following a threat issued by the banned militant outfit Hynniewtrop National Liberation Council (HNLC) to eliminate enumerators. The HNLC, local newspapers reported on Monday, has warned that unless the Government of India came out with a clear policy to solve the long-standing political problem of the State, the Census operation sponsored by the "Colonial forces" shall be termed as an illegal activity. Publicity Secretary of the outfit M Diengdoh asked the Census enumerators not to resort to pressure tactics to deal with the people who opposed "these kind of activities" lest the group should decide to execute them. Deflecting queries on the matter, Census officials here said "it is entirely up to Meghalaya Government how to tackle the threat to the enumerators." Pointing out that the Census operation is conducted by the State Government, the officials claimed that the exercise launched on February 9 last is continuing smoothly despite the HNLC threat. They also denied that any enumerator has refused to work following the warning. A concerned State Government has taken a serious note of the development. A meeting was convened by the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner here yesterday to discuss the issue. Besides senior officials of the Government, officials of Census Operations also attended the meeting. "We will watch the situation," said a state government official adding" it is humanly impossible to provide protection to each of the 5,000 enumerators out in the field." In a queer turn of events, the State Government today came out with a stern warning to the already harassed Census officials to maintain utmost courtesy, politeness and decorum while interacting with the members of the public. "Any act of intimidation if brought to notice will be dealt with sternly by the Government", an official press release said. The release said that the attention of the State Government has been drawn to the news items appearing in sections of the Press attributing objections of certain militant outfits to the conduct of Census Operation, 2001. Saying that the Census data are very vital for planning socio-economic development programmes, the release assured that information given to any supervisor or enumerator by an individual would be retained with strict confidence.