Unhappy with Ichamati case handling: KSU

SHILLONG, Feb 28: President of the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), Lambokstar Marngar has expressed dissatisfaction with the steps the authorities have taken in dealing with those involved in the Ichamati attack that left one of their members dead.
He said he expected the state government to zero in on the mastermind of that attack.
Stating that the attack was pre-planned and the KSU was not satisfied with the way the case was being handled, Marngar said: “We expect the state government to find the mastermind of the February 28 incident last year.”
The KSU president also said the union inaugurated a monument at Ichamati in honour of its slain member Lurshai Hynniewta and a small programmed was organised at Sohra.
“While inaugurating the monument, we reaffirmed to keep on pressuring the central government to implement Inner-Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya,” he said.
“When we demand ILP it does not mean we are anti-Indian or anti-national. ILP is already implemented in other NE states and we are demanding the regulation and mechanism that is within the ambit of the Constitution,” Marngar said, alluding to some reports on the ILP issue.
“The Centre should recognise our microscopic community that needs the mechanism,” he added.
It was on this day in 2020 that some KSU members, after holding a pro-ILP meeting and opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, were attacked at Ichamati. Hynniewta, critically injured in the melee, succumbed to his injuries later.
The Ichamati violence triggered incidents of stabbing and killing, assault, stone-pelting, torching of government vehicles, etc. Curfew was clamped and companies of the Central Armed Police Forces deployed in most parts of the city.