SHILLONG: The lull at Anjalee Point on Friday afternoon was an indication of a storm that the hill city witnessed over two decades ago and was not prepared for any time soon.
The otherwise sleepy and laidback city plunged into chaos and lawlessness on Thursday evening. The buzz of traders and buyers at Bara Bazar was replaced by sound of firing of teargas on Friday. Every outsider or visitor in the city on the stretch from Anjalee petrol pump to the Sumo stand, on the right side of the narrow road that turns to Punjabi Lane, that The Shillong Times spoke to had the same question, “What is happening? What happened yesterday?”
“It was a small issue that snowballed into such violence,” Gurjeet Singh, the secretary of the Panchayat Committee at Punjabi Lane, started his conversation when asked what exactly happened on Thursday. Singh said the driver of an SPTS bus was teasing the women who were collecting water and it all started from there. The women assaulted the driver because he was using “filthy words”. “Nobody targeted the conductor who was just a teenager because he did not do anything. Why should someone beat up an innocent,” Singh said.) When asked how the boy, reportedly around 14 years old, got injured, Singh said he slipped and hurt himself. “But after this with the help of police we resolved it and the women collected money and paid for his treatment. We did not lodge any FIR, but there was only a GD entry,” Singh explained.
“However, in the evening around 5pm, 100-150 people came to the locality and started the ruckus,” he added.
Asked whether the incident had anything to do with the residents’ long battle with authorities over eviction, Singh answered in affirmative. “They want us to leave the area. But how can we as this is our home? The present MLA is resolute to evict us. It is all political,” he said. Other residents of Punjabi Lane, which was under the veil of curfew, said buses are usually parked here and often drivers and conductors create nuisance after drinking. “They often tease women,” said one as he showed the spot near the petrol pump where it all started.
KSU condemns violence
Donald Thabah, the general secretary of KSU, said the organisation “condemns such violence”. However, to a question he replied that KSU has not yet appealed to the youths to keep calm but has petitioned the government to mete out justice and apprehend all culprits.
When informed about the compromise on Thursday and payment for treatment, he said, “This is not a solution. You bash up someone and later you pay for the treatment. Is this the way? The only solution is to clear the locality. Who knows what kind of criminals are there?”
When asked again whether he feels removing the people from the locality would solve the issue, he answered in affirmative.
