A couple on Sunday staged a sit-in in Meghalaya capital Shillong to “silently protest” 40 years of atrocities against non-tribal people in the north-eastern State.
The demonstration at Khyndai Lad, a central landmark in the city, followed the January 20 assault by “unidentified miscreants” on eight non-tribal people, opposite a police station in the Lumdiengjri locality. Three of them, including two Muslims, had to be hospitalised.
Sushit Kanti and Kalpana Choudhury had sought permission from East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Isawanda Laloo to go on an indefinite strike until the State government punishes the culprits and protects the fundamental rights of the non-tribal people. The government allowed them to hold the protest for six hours on Sunday.The couple said the Bengalis and other non-tribal communities in Meghalaya had been facing atrocities since 1979.
“Till date, not a single murderer, looter, extortionist and criminal has been convicted or punished according to the law. Although citizens of India, we are ill-treated here as third-grade populace,” the duo said. Members of other non-tribal communities took part in the sit-in to underscore their “fear and uncertainty”of their lives.
