SHILLONG: A global standstill of this sort, all due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) scare, has never happened before not even during the war times, some good old folks of the city remarked even as they said that these rainy days will be etched in their memories.
Elderly people, who have witnessed the wars of 1962, 1965, 1971 and even the communal clashes, say that the current curfew and lockdown is a never-seen as well as never-heard before event.
Headman of Upper Lumparing HB Wahlang recollected the times when he and others would hide in trenches in St. Anthony’s, Laitumkhrah, which was then a thick forested area, and sirens from airplanes would break the silence.
“During those days, it was a not a problem. We would hide in trenches,” he said adding that food was available to the people except during the Refugee clash when the people in the border areas faced some issues.
Echoing the sentiments of Wahlang was the Headman of Madan Laban I Sun, who said that such a situation is different from the earlier situations arising out of agitations.
“It was not like this before. We would dig trenches at the field in Raid Laban ground and hide there,” Sun remarked.
“We can go out even in those situations. Even communal clashes have subsided with time in the past but now the situation is different,” the headman of Madan Laban added.
