The Hynñiewtrep Integrated Territorial Organisation (HITO) stated today that, unless there is concrete evidence found by the police, it is premature and incorrect to accuse and insinuate that all assault and criminal activities in the state against the Bengali community are committed by tribals.
On Thursday late afternoon a gang of around eight people brutally assaulted innocent civilians in the Lumdiengjri area, resulting in three people sustaining serious injuries.
In response to the sit-in demonstration staged by Sushit and Kalpana Choudhury at Khyndailad today, HITO said that theirs is an attempt to mislead and create communal tension in the state.
“We agree that the police have failed to apprehend, arrest and solve the numerous criminal activities in the past and present but we do not agree that the criminal activities are only by tribals,” HITO president Donbok Dkhar said in a statement today.
Addressing the Choudhurys directly and then completely changing the subject, he added, “Who knows, this could have been done by your community or by other undesirable groups or communities to bring a bad name to the Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo communities. Why only highlight the alleged criminal activities against the Bengali community? Please also highlight the atrocities committed by the government of India on the Khasi states by the betrayal of the IOA & AA (Instrument of Accession and Annexation Agreement) since 1950.”
The latter being ignored has meant that Khasi-Jaintia Hills has lost land due to the “illegal Indo-Bangla” border agreement and now stands to lose territory to Assam, Dkhar said. The Khasis have experienced other “atrocities”, such as not having their traditional headmen, chiefs and kings find mention in the Indian Constitution, he added.
