By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 10: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) West Jaintia Hills District Unit on Wednesday intensified its long-standing opposition to the proposed railway lines in Khasi Hills and any future extension of the railways into the Jaintia Hills region, warning that railway connectivity would accelerate demographic changes and threaten the survival of indigenous Hynniewtrep communities.
The KSU’s warning comes amid reports that the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is planning to begin the preliminary survey for the proposed 135-km Chaparmukh-Jowai new broad-gauge line as early as 2026, provided local opposition can be managed.
Addressing a press conference at the KSU office in Jowai, West Jaintia Hills president Laitphar Syngkrem declared, “From the very beginning in 2008–09 till today, KSU has never compromised on this issue. If the government forcibly tries to bring the railway into Jaintia Hills, we will be left with no option but to physically defend our land and our future generations.”
He emphasised that public sentiment across Pnar-dominated villages remains overwhelmingly hostile. “Go to any village in Khliehriat, Sutnga, Narpuh, or even Jowai town — no one wants the railway. The few voices speaking in favour are either politically motivated or stand to gain personally from land deals and contracts,” Syngkrem alleged.
KSU leaders pointed out that Jaintia Hills already witnesses significant non-tribal influx through the existing National Highway 6 corridor.
The union highlighted the absence of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya — unlike Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh — as a major vulnerability. Despite repeated demands since 2013, successive state governments have failed to implement ILP or enact strong tenancy and land-transfer laws to protect tribal land ownership.
“If we do not stop the railway now, in the next 30–40 years the Pnar people will become a minority in their own districts, just as has happened in parts of Shillong city and Ri-Bhoi,” Syngkrem warned, citing the rapid growth of non-tribal settlements in areas such as Lad Rymbai, Rymbai, and Lumshnong over the past two decades.
The KSU West Jaintia Hills Unit urged both the Conrad Sangma-led MDA Government and the Centre to abandon any plans of extending the railway into the tribal heartland of Jaintia Hills without first implementing the Inner Line Permit and comprehensive legislation protecting indigenous land and demographic balance.
“We are not against development, but development cannot come at the cost of our existence,” Syngkrem concluded.
