Shillong
The Khasi Students’ Union, on Wednesday, sent an SOS to the All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) regarding the safety of Meghalaya students residing on different campuses in Imphal after the riots.
The KSU said that till now no Khasi has been harmed but rioting and lynching is going on in the street and Meghalaya students had sought refuge within their hostels.
AMSU said they’re working round the clock to ensure the safety of northeast students studying in Manipur.
They conveyed this message after KSU received a complaint from Meghalaya students staying in Central Agricultural University Girls’ Hostel in Games Village, Imphal.
The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) turned to the plight of the Khasi villagers in the Tamenglong district of Manipur alleging the encroachment by Bengalis and other groups on Khasi ancestral land that still continues even though Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh had assured the KSU delegation in Imphal a year ago that all encroachers will be evicted.
The union further alleged that the Forest Department prohibited Khasis to cultivate rubber and areca nuts in their own lands whereas illegal settlers continued using the Khasi fields.
The union stated, “It is high time for the Government of Manipur to take initiatives to protect the Khasi villagers in the state and to ensure that they live with dignity and without any harassment from all quarters.”
The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) has expressed concern about the recent incident in Manipur whereby the government of Manipur is evicting the indigenous settlers belonging to the Zo community and the violent incidents that follow.
“They were evicted on the pretext that they are settling on reserve forest whereas the fact is that these indigenous settlers have been residing in these areas for ages,” NESO chairman Samuel B Jyrwa said in a statement.
It may be reminded that the Manipur government last month had also tried to evict the Khasi settlers who also have been residing in those areas since time immemorial.
NESO called upon its concerned constituent organizations, the AMSU and Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) to take the initiative and to coordinate between them so as to maintain calm and to diffuse any communal tension.
NESO also appealed to the different indigenous communities to maintain peace and calm and to uphold the age-old relationship that has developed over the generations.