A court in Meghalaya’s Shillong sent three senior leaders of the Khasi Students’ Union, including its president Raymond Kharjana, vice-president Pynkmenlang Sanmiet and general secretary Reuben Najiar, to 14 days’ judicial custody after they were arrested for their alleged role in the recent violence in the town and along the Meghalaya-Assam border.
Statues of Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose were vandalised, and several vehicles were torched on Wednesday during a bike rally organised by the KSU. The union has been agitating for a five-point charter of demands, including implementation of the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act, reforms in recruitment through the Meghalaya Public Service Commission and District Selection Committees (DSCs), and stricter regulation of migrant workers. The district administration has also revoked the permission granted to the KSU for a sit-in protest after the conditions imposed for the bike rally were violated. The administration has warned that any gathering held thereafter would amount to an unlawful assembly.
