SHILLONG: A decades-old land dispute between the villagers of Mawlyngbna and Thyllaw in Mawsynram, East Khasi Hills, took an ugly turn on Tuesday when a group of farmers from Thyllaw village, mostly women, were attacked by a mob armed with lethal weapons.
Nine farmers including six women were severely injured in the incident. One of the injured has been admitted to the Shillong Civil Hospital.
While taking to newsmen on Wednesday, some injured farmers said that they were attacked by a mob of more than 100 people from Mawlyngbna village allegedly led by the Syiem of Mawsynram while they were working in their agricultural land.
“The mob was fully armed. They did not even spare the women,” the farmers said.
Meanwhile, Warding Farmers Association (WFA) assistant general secretary Bhanusib Rnga said that it was really sad that the farmers were made “scapegoat in the land tussle between the two villages”.
He said that they had been cultivating in the so called ‘disputed land’ for over 100 years.
“The undercurrent among the two villages has always been there. This is the first time that they have attacked the farmers in this manner,” Rnga said.
The WFA assistant general secretary said that the litigation over the disputed land has been going on in the district council for the past many decades.
Expressing concern over the incident, East Khasi Hills police chief M Kharkrang said, “The problem between two villages has been going on for a long time. The Deputy Commissioner in June last had convened a meeting of the two villages seeking people’s cooperation to ensure that there is no untoward incident due to land dispute”.
He said that the police will definitely act against those responsible for the attack.
The KHADC CEM Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, meanwhile, said that the Council would order an inquiry into this incident. “We will try to find out the people responsible for Tuesday’s attack,” Basaiawmoit said adding that the Council would act accordingly.