IT was a coincidence that a late night brawl in the hostel of the students of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) which was followed by sharp retaliation from students of adjoining hostels should happen on the same day that a number of non-tribal labourers were shunted out of the State because they did not have trading licenses. Student brawls in NEHU campus are not new. What is not understood is how ‘outsiders’ are able to enter the NEHU campus to take sides with one of student group against the other. Also in question is the role of the hostel warden. Why is the warden unable to rein in the students and insist on their respecting the sanctity of an academic environment by refraining from making loud noises beyond a certain time. What about the Dean of Students’ Welfare? Is his role not to keep the peace in the campus considering that there are thousand of hostellers from different states of the North East and from elsewhere?
The labourers who fled from Meghalaya have their own versions of why they did so. Whoever hired them should have made sure they had a valid work permit. On inspection it was found that they did not have the permits so they were asked to leave. It is coincidental that they are all from Assam. A mischievous media from Assam has linked up the two incidents and made it appear like a communal flare-up. Instead of going into the NEHU incident more analytically to find out its genesis the media became a cacophonous echo of the aggrieved students’ claims without getting the other side of the story, which is the media’s prime obligation. Student’s brawls are not a new thing in NEHU hence it would have been proper for the media channel to interrogate more people before putting out the news. What’s worse is the politicization of the whole episode with politicians from Assam coming in to interfere in a matter that is within the purview of NEHU authorities. This has got to stop and the NEHU Vice Chancellor has the onus of setting right the lacunae in this central varsity.