SHILLONG, Nov 30: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) on Wednesday said the pressure groups would not have hit the streets if the state government had taken measures to protect the lives of Khasi population residing along the interstate boundary with Assam.
Talking to The Shillong Times, KSU president Lambokstar Marngar said the state government should be held responsible for the Mukroh firing incident which left six persons, including five from Meghalaya, dead.
According to him, the stray incidents of violence, which occurred during the protest by the pressure groups, were minor compared to the deaths of the five villagers in the “unprovoked” firing by the Assam police and the Assam Forest Protection Guards.
“The people, who are criticising the protest staged by the pressure groups, should put themselves in place of the family members who lost their lone breadwinner. Would they have questioned (the protest) if one of the five who died were their relative?” Marngar asked.
He felt the incidents which occurred during the protest were blown out of proportion.
“The protest called by the pressure groups is a democratic process. We will continue to hold such democratic protest on any issue,” he said.
Stating that the miscreants tried to disrupt the protest, the KSU president said the leaders of the pressure groups had managed to control the situation on the day of the sit-in solidarity protest at the Kiang Nangbah statue, Civil Hospital junction. The youth and people, who attended the protest, were angry and agitated over the death of the five persons, he said.
“We were all very sad after the death of our own people,” Marngar added.
“We want justice for the families of those who lost their lives,” he added.
KAAC CEM
should apologise
The KSU also slammed Chief Executive Member of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) Tuliram Ronghang for claiming that Mukroh village falls under the jurisdiction of Assam and demanded an apology from the CEM. Marngar said the state government should react strongly to Ronghang’s claim that Khasi villagers residing at Mukroh were illegal settlers.
“How can the KAAC CEM make such claims when the interstate border dispute remains unresolved? We know for a fact that Mukroh is a part and parcel of Meghalaya,” he said.
The KSU president also accused the Assam government of resorting to new tactic to claim areas which are not included in the list of the 12 disputes areas.
“The fact remains that the Assam government has never respected the status quo agreed upon by the two states and continues to encroach into Meghalaya territory,” Marngar added.
The HYC accused the MDA Government of shamelessly acting as complicit to the Assam government.
The KAAC CEM recently expressed his imperialistic comment that Mukroh falls within the boundary of Assam. “After attempts to sell Meghalaya’s land to Assam through the border talks, the MDA Government is now silent on the killings. “The blood of the victims is on the hands of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma,” HYC general secretary Roy Kupar Synrem said.
He seconded the KSU president’s demand for an immediate apology from the KAAC CEM for his aggravating comment.