By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 28: The Hynniewtrep Integrated Territorial Organization (HITO) on Monday opposed the University of Science & Technology, Meghalaya’s (USTM) ‘Mission Rehabilitation Education’ initiative that is aimed at providing educational rehabilitation to the children of Assam’s evicted families.
HITO president Donbok Dkhar acknowledged the humanitarian undertones of the initiative but he was concerned about its implications given that the issue involves individuals who are not residents of Meghalaya and whose nationality is under a cloud.
“It must be unequivocally stated that the children you propose to support are part of a population of illegal immigrants—individuals with no legitimate claim to domicile in Meghalaya or elsewhere in the Indian Union,” Dkhar said in a letter addressed to USTM chancellor, Mahbubul Hoque.
According to him, facilitating their integration into the state’s educational framework is not merely a benign act of charity, it is a move with far-reaching social and political consequences.
“Such gestures inadvertently set a precedent—one that opens the door to long-term settlement, procurement of residential or domicile certificates, and eventually, legal and political claims that erode the indigenous rights of the people of Meghalaya,” the HITO president said.
He further stated that what is more concerning are the national security ramifications of such actions.
He said given the current geopolitical tensions, including increased infiltration along the India-Bangladesh border and emerging intelligence reports on ISI-linked activity in Bangladesh, it is imperative that institutions in the Northeast act with heightened caution.
Dkhar also said that the Northeast, Meghalaya in particular, must not become the soft underbelly through which undocumented migration is legitimised under the veil of humanitarian outreach.
“Let us be clear that this is not an opposition to education or child welfare. Our concern stems from the deliberate normalisation of illegality under the guise of benevolence. As a community organisation deeply rooted in the defence of Meghalaya’s land, people, and cultural identity, we view your current stance as one that risks compromising not only our demographic integrity but also our constitutional safeguards as Scheduled Tribe citizens under the Sixth Schedule,” he wrote in the letter.
Urging the institute to reassess its initiative, Dkhar said the support for the marginalised must not come at the cost of a state’s sovereignty over its land, identity, and future.
He mentioned that the institute contributed positively to higher education and state’s development in the past. “We expect that legacy to continue but not at the expense of Meghalaya’s lawful rights and demographic stability,” he further stated.