Shillong/Nongpoh, Jul 28: The Hynñiewtrep Integrated Territorial Organisation (HITO) and Ri-Bhoi Peoples’ Council (RBPC) have both expressed their opposition to the decision of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) to launch a ‘rehabilitation education’ initiative for displaced individuals from Assam.
Assam has recently begun eviction drives of suspected illegal migrants, which has raised fears in other North East states, including Meghalaya, that they will see an influx of people fleeing Assam.
USTM wanted to offer a way for students who had been affected by the eviction from Assam to carry on with their education.
However, HITO wrote to the USTM Chancellor and the RBPC to the Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioner against such an initiative. HITO said that while it “may have humanitarian undertones”, the university’s move “raises concerns about the implications of providing educational rehabilitation to children of evicted families from Assam.”
Such students would be integrated into Meghalaya’s educational framework and this could lead to long-term settlement and “erosion of indigenous rights”.
Meanwhile, the RBPC urged the DC not to allow USTM to shelter anyone displaced from Assam on its campus. The group also disagreed with the university providing support to students from outside the state when there are many within Ri-Bhoi and the rest of Meghalaya who cannot access higher education due to poverty.
