By Lapdiang Artimai Syiem
I write this after witnessing a protest on 1st August, 2025, by the hawkers and street vendors in front of the Municipal office. Through the various articles I have read recently concerning this issue, I have been educated and informed about the Street Vendors Act and how the Government has failed to uphold or refuses to act in accordance with the law as stated. If there is any group that can hold the Government accountable, I am confident it is the hawker’s association. But I am here not to talk about that. I write this instead from a position where I acknowledge my privilege and the privilege to be ignorant of the class struggles of the hawkers and the street vendors. Until date this was merely an issue that I was aware of and empathized with but did not allow myself the time or the space to actually understand what was happening at the ground level, at a very human level, at a level that forces us to confront our privilege of staying ignorant. I write also as a mother to a young child who saw other young mothers at these protests, the difference being that they carried their babies with them while protesting for their rights to earn their livelihood in dignity. I write therefore for these women, who are at the forefront of this fight for justice because they do not have the privilege to not fight or not resist.
I write this because what I have witnessed has shaken me to an extent that does not allow me to continue to be ignorant. Instead, I hope I can appeal to you to step out of your privilege and perhaps imagine for a bit, just a bit what it would mean to be in their place. Please understand this is not a communal issue, whoever has tried to use this narrative in the past, you are attempting to mislead without any real understanding of what the fight is about. Please understand that this is not about lack of space or increase in traffic or a disturbance to pedestrians. The government will not evict the big cars that take up space, the thousands of new car registrations in Meghalaya in 2025 alone, or the big official cars with their loud sirens that are used by our officials for non-official drives.
Please understand that as a society that claims to uphold the tenets of tip briew tip blei bad kamai ia ka hok we can at least attempt to understand this resistance, this fight that may seem inconsequential to many…to earn a livelihood in dignity.
At the protests, this was what I saw (allow me this space to express myself as an artist with some emotion and feeling). On 30th June 2025, I stepped out of my home to witness the attempt to evict the hawkers from Khyndailad. After finding my bearings in the chaos I followed these grey-haired older women, struggling to run up towards Khyndailad, huffing along the way, in order to protect their wares in case the police took them away. I saw a young mother with a child on her back stubbornly holding on to her basket of fruits in case someone took it away from her. I saw a young girl not knowing whether she should put her basket of sohphi and her stall of kwai-tympew out in case she was not allowed to sit there. I saw women of various ages shouting and standing their ground to the magistrates and police officers who attempted to carry forward the eviction process. I saw hawkers looking out for each other, carrying and protecting each other’s wares. It was a collective act of solidarity and strength. I unfortunately, only saw a picture and a video of the Kong who held up an axe (u sdie) in front of the officials. Why would a mother raise an axe if not pushed to the brink of losing everything and not being able to provide for her children? The government that claims to protect the well-being and livelihood of women in a matrilineal society has failed us in so many ways.
On 1st August 2025, I stepped out to be part of the protest by the hawkers in front of the Municipal office. The sight that I encountered was one that should put our entire donburom society to shame. There, the hawkers from Civil Hospital, Bimola, Laitumkhrah, Police Bazaar came together in front of the Municipal Building to protest and demand their right to meet with the officials. A woman told me that they had been standing there since 10 am, another one said, “Why are the Municipal gates closed to us? They could let us in instead of making us wait outside on the streets. We do not need to be here all day. We want to dialogue with the officials. We want a response from them.” Women spoke and shared with each other about their struggles, why they were there and their right to vending in their spots. Another woman bought me some channa as I sat there with her. This to me is solidarity. I stayed on to listen to an older woman who had been vending since 1998; a grandmother aware of her vending rights and the service she provided near Civil hospital to patients and families who came from the villages, unable to even afford food at the hospital canteens. She proudly told me how she has been able to support and raise her children, her grandchildren and now her great grandchildren. Another hawker explained how their presence would boost the economy of the State and shared about how their fight is a fight for the future of their children. We spoke about the safety of our streets because of the presence of the hawkers; ka jingshngaiñ jong ki lynti syngkein.
I stayed on a bit longer to witness a collective voice that demanded the Chief Executive Officer to come out and meet them, to address their demands;
“Ngi dawa ïa ka hok, ngi dawa ïa ka hok, ngi dawa ïa ka hok!”
(defiant women, hungry, tired, exhausted but fully aware of their rights to earn a livelihood in dignity because they do not have the privilege to be ignorant and unaware).
As for me, I cannot help but be in awe of these women who have shown me what strength, courage and resilience is all about.