Shillong, Nov 10: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) today provided further details regarding the incident that took place at Daistong in East Jaintia Hills on Saturday and it denied allegations that its members had assaulted locals in the area.
According to the union, its members had gone to Daistong for a short meeting where they encouraged the people not to be afraid while fighting for their rights in opposing a cement plant-cum-limestone quarry.
After the meeting, the KSU said, locals of Shnongrim, who had accompanied the pressure group members, advised them to return to Khliehriat via a shorter route through farmland. No trouble was anticipated on that route.
“Four of us were sitting in a vehicle and before reaching the farmland, there was one vehicle that had been stopped. From a distance, I saw five-six people carrying machetes,” Kwilness Suchiang, General Secretary of the East Jaintia Hills District Unit said, narrating the incident.
He said the members got down from their vehicle to enquire about the disturbance but machete-carrying men chased them away, saying it was not their route.
The KSU said the road was in very bad condition and it was not possible to return by the same way they had come. Had the road been in good condition, they would have returned by the same route to avoid any untoward incident, the union said.
“We told them we had come through the route with no ill intention, but had come only after meeting people in Daistong and wanted to return to Khliehriat. But they did not want to listen and asked us to return,” the union said.
The KSU further claimed that since there were many members on its side, they were able to snatch machetes from some of the men and chase them away.
The union also rejected claims by two locals that they had been assaulted by the pressure group members.
“You came with machetes and threatened our lives and in return made statements that the KSU came to create tension and beat them up,” the union said.
The KSU also questioned the bandages seen on the foreheads of the two elders in video footage, stating that it had no knowledge of who had assaulted them and that the union had nothing to do with it.
Two men of Moolasngi village – Ameriki Sukhlain and Khreh Sukhlain – were injured on Saturday and have alleged that it was members of the KSU and people from Shnongrim who were responsible. Khreh Sukhlain admitted that he had been carrying a dao that day but only because he uses it on his farmland.
