Shillong: Following the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) rally on Wednesday and its announcement to hold a sit-in demonstration at Khyndailad on August 21, police stormed the KSU office and arrested its leaders.
KSU president Raymond Kharjana, general secretary Reuben Najiar and vice-president Pynkmenlang Sanmiet were arrested late Wednesday evening and taken to Sadar Police Station.
Police fired tear gas after a confrontation broke out with KSU members during the arrests.
Earlier, in an exclusive interview with EastMojo after the bike rally, KSU general secretary Reuben Najiar said the union was used to facing police cases and arrests during agitations.
He said such action was not new and that the union remained firm on its demands.
“We are firm on our demands because if these demands are met, it will not only benefit the KSU, it will benefit the people of Meghalaya at large,” Najiar said.
He said the KSU was ready for talks with the government and maintained that its demands were not new and had been raised with the government on several occasions.
The KSU has five key demands. The first is for the July 31 public hearing on the proposed Shree Cement project to be declared null and void. It has also demanded departmental proceedings against the Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police and members of the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board involved in conducting the hearing.
The second demand is the implementation of the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA), 2016, while the third is the implementation of the Migrant Workmen Act Amendment, 2020.
The fourth demand concerns various issues at NEIGRIHMS, which the union said remain unresolved despite assurances from the government.
The fifth demand relates to transparency in government recruitment, including the abolition of personal interviews and reforms in the Meghalaya Public Service Commission and standard operating procedures for other recruitment boards.
KSU on vandalism during rally
Reacting to incidents of vandalism and attacks during Wednesday’s black flag rally, Najiar said the agitation was intended to be peaceful and that KSU members had been instructed not to take the law into their own hands.
According to an EastMojo ground report, at least 10 non-local men were brutally assaulted by masked men during the unrest.
Meanwhile, the busts of Subhash Chandra Bose and Swami Vivekananda at RR Colony in Umpling were also vandalised by unidentified miscreants.
Najiar said the rally was not attended only by KSU members, as the union had also appealed to members of the public to participate.
“We don’t know whether such vandalism was caused by our union members or by other people,” he said.
Najiar said the union would look into the incidents and take action if any of its members were found to be involved.
“We don’t want such untoward incidents to divert the issue. Our demands are genuine and we don’t want the issue to be diverted into another problem,” he said.
Najiar also said the KSU would hold a sit-in demonstration at Khyndailad on August 21. He said the demonstration would be attended only by the union’s central body and would not be open to the public.
KSU reiterates ILP demand
On the Inner Line Permit (ILP), Najiar said the union would continue to demand its implementation, citing information obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act regarding the government’s previous communications on the issue.
He said the union believed Meghalaya needed a mechanism to protect the state’s indigenous population until ILP is granted by the Centre.
“The MRSSA 2016 is already in place. We want the government to implement it until ILP is granted by the Government of India,” he said.