Amid reports of stone pelting in parts of the greater Laban area in Shillong, the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) on Saturday organised a rally to mark Khasi National Awakening Day, invoking history, identity and indigenous concerns even as the city remained on edge, with security tightened and a massive deployment of forces in place. The procession began at Bharat Scouts and Guides, Laban, and wound its way through Laban, Last Stop, Kench’s Trace and Bishnupur before culminating at Madan Laban, where leaders addressed a gathering of volunteers and members joined by representatives of other organisations.
Observed annually on April 4, Khasi National Awakening Day (Sngi Kyrsiew Ri) commemorates the 1829 uprising led by freedom fighter U Tirot Sing against British colonial rule. The day, spearheaded by the KSU, is positioned as a call for unity and vigilance among the Khasi-Jaintia communities.
On the sidelines of the programme, NESO chairman Samuel Jyrwa said, “the Khasi Students Union has organised a massive rally to commemorate the uprising of U Tirot Sing in 1829 against the British Empire and the KSU has been observing this day as Khasi National Awakening Day to call upon our fellow community members of the Hynriewtrep race to be alert and be aware of all the happenings in the surrounding and also the regarding all aspects that the tribe is facing as of today. This 4th April is adopted as Khasi National Awakening Day in 1993 in which KSU also adopted the constitution of the union.”
He further cautioned, “We the different tribes of whole of North Eastern Region we are microscopic communities, we are very small in number and the threat of influx from Bangladesh is very much there. We have seen what happened in Tripura, we have seen what happened in different parts of Assam, where the indigenous people are being overwhelmed, they have become a minority in their own land. For us also in the state of Meghalaya, this threat is very real, and it is very important for us as people of the microscopic community to be alert of all the happenings either in Bangladesh, or migration that is happening.”
