The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), on Saturday on the 161st death anniversary of freedom fighter U Kiang Nangbah said that he was he was not a king nor a prince but he was an ordinary man who rose against the might of the British Empire.
“He saw the difficulties his own people were going through. His people were harassed and we the present generation are gathered today is because he was selfless and we can proudly saw we are his people,” KSU president Lambokstar Marngar said while addressing a gathering after paying tribute to the life-size statue of U Kiang Nongbah on his death anniversary near Civil Hospital Shillong.
Marngar also said that there is a feeling that if our ancestors have not given their lives for the cause of their own people the present generation would not see the indigenous Khasis in Hynniewtrep land.
The KSU president called upon the indigenous people that it is their duty to come forward and fight for their own people.
Marngar also said that the present generation is seeing that it is being overwhelmed by various forces even as he stated that if the youths turn a blind eye then the same rope which hanged U Kiang Nongbah to death will one day be a noose which will hang the indigenous Hynniewtrep people.
He also said that in the present generation there is an attempt by forces to snatch away jobs, businesses and even political rights from the indigenous people.
“Now we are seeing traitors from within the community who are conspiring against the community,” the KSU president said.
Marngar also said that such traitors will not live peacefully in the Hynniewtrep Land.
He also lambasted certain political parties of the state for advocating Railways in the state.
The KSU president said that as a pressure group who are opposing the Railway line in the state, they were expecting that these parties who are in power would speak out against the problems of the students of the state, against unemployment, to improve the health sector and help youth to stand on their own feet.
Sending a stern message to political parties who are advocating for the Railway Line in Khasi-Jaintia Hills region, Marngar said that if these political parties continue to advocate for it, he warned that the KSU and other pressure groups would oppose it tooth and nail.
“We want the government to first ensure that the indigenous people are protected, we want them to streamline education, improve the health sector and solve the problems of the rural people,” he said.
