Voice of the People Party (VPP) has called for a public meeting at Motphran on April 22 as part of a broader agitation against the Meghalaya government’s alleged “anti-indigenous” policies. The public meeting marks a significant escalation in the standoff over the proposed luxury resort at Umiam. During the agitation, the party plans to also place the long-standing grievances regarding irregularities in the Meghalaya Public Service Commission (MPSC) and District Selection Committees (DSC), alongside the rights of teachers and border residents.
VPP president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, while announcing the agitation following an emergent party meeting on Saturday, accused the NPP-led administration of being “insensitive and dismissive” of the interests of the Khasi-Jaintia community, particularly in its continued defence of the 60-year lease agreement for Lumpongdeng Island.
“Time has come to act decisively in the interest of the people,” Basaiawmoit said, adding that the party can no longer wait for government clarifications. The VPP’s foray into the protest comes as the Green-Tech Foundation’s hunger strike enters its second week with no response from the Secretariat.
The party is attempting to consolidate public discontent into a singular political movement by combining the island lease with systemic issues like job recruitment and teachers’ service conditions. The party also plans to conduct state-wide awareness campaigns to sensitise citizens before taking more “stringent actions.” Basaiawmoit urged the people across the Khasi-Jaintia region to gather at Motphran, warning that the mass mobilisation would be a precursor to a more intensified agitation if the government remained unmoved.