Meghalaya police probe ISIS-linked poster asking tribals to leave

Meghalaya police have launched an investigation into a poster allegedly linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), threatening indigenous communities in the West Garo Hills district of the state to vacate their land.

The British diktat, stuck on a pole, warned the Garo tribal people, primarily residing in Phulbari, Rajabala, Tikrikilla, Selsela, Garobadha and Tura (the district headquarters), that they would face “serious consequences” if they did not vacate their land by 2027.

Abraham T. Sangma, the district’s superintendent of police, said a suo-motu case has been filed to find out who pasted the “provocative” poster and why. “Preliminary assessment indicates that some vested interest person or group may have done this deliberately to create concern and disrupt law and order,” he said.

He said police found a single poster that had been sent for forensic examination.

In the state capital Shillong, Deputy Chief Minister (Home Affairs) Prestone Tynsong said the government was seriously examining the issue. Tura MP Saleng Sangma called on the government to handle the situation with extreme caution and called for increased surveillance in the area.

The ISIS-linked poster is believed to be linked to the death of Garo youth leader Dilseng M. Sangma after a group of people allegedly involved in illegal quarrying attacked him and his friends on January 10. The incident caused social tension as the attackers were mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims.

“Psychological warfare”

On Wednesday, January 28, 2029, the Confederation of Social Organizations of Meghalaya (CoMSO) petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, seeking a central-level inquiry into the poster.

“The use of the name of a globally recognized terrorist organization like ISIS cannot be taken lightly under any circumstances. Such threats, even if fabricated, are tantamount to terrorist propaganda, psychological warfare and insurgency, aimed at creating fear among indigenous peoples, destabilizing a sensitive border state and testing the preparedness and response of Indian security agencies,” CoMSO said.

CoMSO president Roy Kumar Synrem and general secretary Balkarin Ch. Marak pointed out that the Garo Hills region of Meghalaya is the ancestral homeland of the Garo people, whose land, culture and identity rights are protected under the Constitution of India and legal frameworks have been established.

“Any demand for their displacement amounts to the threat of ethnic cleansing, which the Indian State is obliged to resolutely prevent,” the organization wrote.

Other organizations and activists have called for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (a temporary travel document for visitors to Meghalaya), abolition of dual electorates, a separate electoral roll for the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council and the implementation of the National Register of Citizens in the State. They argued that these would provide greater security for indigenous communities.