SHILLONG:
The Manipur government is set to evict illegal settlers from Khedagar Khasi village in the state.
The development came a day after the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) led by its general secretary Donald V Thabah sought Singh’s intervention to officially put an immediate halt to all attempted encroachment by non-residents and others in Khasi designated areas.
“The Chief Minister of Manipur gave us a patient hearing and immediately ordered the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Tamenglong to evict the illegal settlers from the Khasi village,” Thabah said in a statement, issued after a meeting with the Manipur chief minister, on May 6.
In the meeting, the union urged the government to conduct an eviction drive against illegal settlers and constructions in all Khasi villages to provide adequate security to the Khasis of the region.
“He (Singh) also directed the DC to arrest illegal settlers who are harassing the Khasis residing in the state. He assured that his government would also implement the provisions of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) to keep a check on illegal migrants,” he said.
The KSU delegation was also accompanied by headmen of the three Khasi villages and members of the KSU Barak Valley Circle Assam, Barak Valley Khasi Jaintia Welfare Organization, All Manipur Students’ Union, Rongmei Naga Students’ Organization Manipur.
In its memorandum to the Manipur CM, the KSU highlighted the important issues relating to the condition of the indigenous Khasi inhabitants of Manipur who reside along the Tamenglong – Jiribam boundary for his necessary intervention.
It said the Khasis in Manipur had been residing in their present location since 1939-1940 with a single village named as Khedagar Khasi village. Later on, two more Khasi villages – Kamrangha Khasi and Abampunji Khasi villages – were established. “These Khasi villages falls under the Jiribam administration until the year 1972, when they were placed under the jurisdiction of Tamenglong District in Tousem Tehsil owing to their hilly landscape,” the memorandum read.
At present, the Khasi population in Manipur stands at more than 1000 persons with more than 30 households. Most of the Manipuri Khasis are engaged in agriculture especially in pan-leaf cultivation as their means of livelihood.
The memorandum said the Khasis in Manipur have been living peacefully until in recent years when nearby residents from Jiribam started encroaching on Khasi lands in Khedagar Khasi village.
Under threat of losing their rightfully owned lands from the massive influx of outsiders, the representatives of Khedagar Khasi village had sent numerous petitions to the concerned authorities to look into the matter and expedite necessary actions but till date no justice had been delivered to the indigenous Khasi settlers, it said.
Cases of intimidation against the Khasis and forceful construction of illegal structures in the said area are also reported which placed the Khasi villagers in a hapless situation, it said adding a First Information Report (FIR) had also been lodged by a local Khasi against encroachers to the Police Officer in-charge stationed in Tousem on the 12/04/2022 (copy enclosed herewith).
On November 17, last year, the Khasi representatives had also written to the then Hon’ble Minister of Forest, Environment, Climate Change and Sericulture Minister, Awangbou Newmai seeking prohibition of encroachment in Khasi villages.
The unabated influx of outsiders and their illegal encroachment poses a serious threat to the very existence of the Khasi community and their ancestral lands which they had been living since the British era. The said encroachment will also render the Khasi villagers landless to the point of becoming refugees in their own land where they had been born and brought up, the memorandum said.