Correspondent
PASIGHAT, 14 Feb: Normal life here in East Siang district came to a standstill on Friday during a 12-hr bandh call enforced by the All Bogong Students’Union (ABSU).
The bandh was enforced in protest against non-fulfillment of the union’s various demands, including the demand for renaming two educational institutes after eminent persons of their area.
All business establishments, educational institutions and banks remained closed during the bandh hours.Vehicles were off the road, while government offices recorded thin attendance during the dawn-to-dusk bandh. However, emergency services were exempted from the purview of the bandh call.
There were no reports of bandh-related untoward incidents, except a hot argument between protesters and administrative officials in Berung.
In January this year, the ABSU had submitted representations to the East Siang deputy commissioner, proposing that the GNM School and the Govt Polytechnic Institute be renamed after Tagoli Jamoh and Kuttik Moyong, respectively. The union further demanded that members of the BBK be involved in the District Land Allotment Committee and in the management and allotment of newly-constructed three urban development buildings at Pasighat market.
Responding to the demands, the DC in a letter to the ABSU on 5 February had suggested to the union to approach the local MLA for taking up the issues with the state government, stating that the district administration was not the competent authority to take a decision on the matters.