Locals oppose construction of Ramakrishna Mission ME School in village over contentious allotment of land
SHILLONG, Jan 20: Curfew was imposed after a violent clash between police and public at Mawkynrew village (about 37 km from here) on Monday opposed to building construction of the Ramakrishna Mission School over a contentious allotment of land.
The matter which is currently sub judice, took a violent turn when a section of villagers approached the construction site seeking to reclaim the land which was earlier allotted for sports activity.
As police was deployed under the High Court directive, the villagers clashed with police who fired tear gas to disperse the milling crowd. The incident left 12 people injured.
The violence prompted East Khasi Hills District Magistrate RM Kurbah to impose curfew in the village over fears that clashes are likely to continue, leading to breach of peace and tranquility and possibility of loss of life and property.
The RKM School which has been in existence since 2022 is the only school in the area. It has 168 students from Class 1 to Class 5 most of whom are ferried in the Mission bus.
The administration had deployed a large number of police personnel to the site after receiving reports that the villagers might dismantle the under-construction school building.
The group of villagers, however, denied they had any intention to dismantle the building. They said they had come to stake a claim of the land adjacent to the school which was allotted to a club for the construction of a football ground.
A scuffle ensued when the police personnel prevented the villagers from entering the school premises. The personnel fired tear gas to restore normalcy. Seven protestors, including a pregnant woman, were injured. Five police personnel, two of them women, were also injured.
The women constables, taken to the Mawkynrew PHC, were released after first aid. The pregnant woman was kept under observation at the same health centre. The protestors stayed put even after the scuffle. Later, they marched to the PHC.
Acting Sordar of Mawkynrew Pyllun, Kitborlang Mukhim categorically denied the allegation that he had arbitrarily allotted the land to the school.
He said the former Sordar, N Shylla, had first held an executive committee meeting to discuss the proposal to hand over the land to the school.
According to him, the Sordar then convened a meeting of the Dorbar on August 25, 2020 where the proposal to allot the land was endorsed. Mukhim said the former Sordar himself had indicated the boundary of the land which was being allotted to the school.
He said the Dorbar of Mawlein village decided to endorse the proposal on November 22, 2021.
“It was also decided in this meeting that the RKM should start the construction of its school on the said plot,” Mukhim said.
According to him, the RKM started the school from Nursery in 2022 and it now has classes up to the fifth grade. He said Tanbor Surong, president of the football club, had in 2023 filed a case against him over the land allocation to RKM.
Mukhim said the decision to file the case was surprising because Surong himself was a signatory when a decision was made, asking the RKM to immediately start the construction work of the school in November 2021.
Mukhim said the decision to allot the land to the football club in 2015 does not stand anymore as the subsequent decision to allot the said plot to RKM superseded it.
Meanwhile, leader of the Sur U Paidbah of Mawkynrew and Mawlien, P Wankhar said there was no intention to create any law and order problem.
“We are only following the agreement of the Dorbar Pyllun which allotted the land to the football club,” Wankhar, who is a former Sordar of Mawlein, said.
He said they have no information about the proposal to allot the land to the RKM as it was a decision taken by the Acting Sordar of Mawkynrew Dorbar Pyllun.
According to him, the two villages (Mawkynrew and Mawlein) are not party to this decision. He alleged that the Acting Sordar of Mawkynrew Dorbar Pyllun converted all the Raid land of the villages as his own landed property.
Wankhar said they had approached the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council demanding steps to appoint a full-fledged Sordar of the Mawkynrew Dorbar Pyllun.
Meanwhile, the RKM termed the incident as unfortunate. The RKM’s Sohra secretary said the school was doing very well and the children of the area were benefitting.
According to the RKM’s Sohra secretary, the school provided employment as the teachers are from the area only, adding that no one helped them when the protesters tried to disrupt the ongoing construction of the school building.
“There was police presence because the High Court intervened after we had filed a petition,” the RKM Sohra secretary added.
The deed of gift was signed between Acting Sordar of Mawkynrew Pyllun Kitborlang Mukhim and RKM Sohra Branch on September 8, 2020.