SHILLONG: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has criticised Governor Tathagata Roy for expressing selective concern for non-local migrants while maintaining a stoic silence on the plight of local residents in mainland India.
In a statement issued here on Tuesday, KSU president Lambokstarwell Marngar expressed surprise at a recent tweet of the Governor disapproving of the union’s stand against non-local migrants.
Marngar clarified that the KSU South Khasi Hills district unit had apprehended 69 migrant workers at Sohra Rim and handed them over to the concerned authorities.
He stated that the Governor’s tweet is aimed at finding faults with the union. “The message we want to send to the Governor is that he should not be reckless in his tweets. During the lockdown, when residents from the state were discriminated against and chased out from their homes in mainland India why did the Governor not say anything then?” Marngar said.
Stating that the issues concerning settlement of outsiders is nothing new and is still the focal point of the organisation, Marngar said, “It is not a crime to protect our own land. We will continue to be sentinels. We have every right to voice our concern, to decide, to demand as well as to protect”.
Marngar reiterated that the organisation will continue to keep a hawk’s eye on free movement of outsiders in the state and continue with the task of protecting the Ri (land) at any cost.
