PATNA: Tensions have started to calm in the northeastern state of Meghalaya, six days into a curfew following clashes over India’s new citizenship legislation. But despite the relative peace, sporadic incidents of violence have still been reported.
The tiny hilly region has been in turmoil since Saturday, when supporters of the controversial citizenship law clashed with a local tribal group demanding settlement restrictions for outsiders.
Meghalaya has been in a state of tension since mid-December when the central government enacted the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which seeks to grant fast track citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who arrived in India on or before Dec. 31, 2014.
The law has led to nationwide protests and anxiety among the country’s Muslims, who fear it may render them stateless. But in northeastern areas of India, fears are rising that Hindu Bengali settlers from Bangladesh, who are seen as the main beneficiaries of the CAA, could overwhelm the region’s indigenous population.
The biggest northeastern state, Assam, has been boiling for the past two months, as protesters demand immediate revocation of the law to “stop the indigenous Assamese from turning into a minority in their own state.” Similar concerns have been raised in Meghalaya, which borders Bangladesh.
Saturday’s clashes broke out between the Khasi Students Union (KSU), a powerful local group representing the state’s indigenous population, and nontribal groups near the Ichamati River, which forms a natural boundary between India and Bangladesh.
The KSU were holding a protest against the CAA and demanding the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) to restrict entry and settlement to outsiders.
The violence claimed three lives and the curfew was imposed in several places, including Shillong, Meghalaya’s capital. It was relaxed for a few hours on Thursday.
“Markets were closed for many days and today for a few hours we relaxed the curfew, however some sporadic incidents of violence took place,” said Matsiewdor War Nongbri, deputy commissioner
of Shillong.
Lambokstar Marngar, president of the KSU, told Arab News: “The only solution is the Inner Line Permit, otherwise the situation might turn from bad to worse.
“This is the demand of not only by the KSU but the whole state. This is the question of the rights of the indigenous people of the state.”
The Meghalaya government in December last year passed a resolution that the central government impose the ILP.
Shillong Times editor and political analyst Patricia Mukhim told Arab News: “the conflict started at the place which borders Bangladesh where there are many non-tribal settlers.
“I think the protest must be threatening to many who are living in India without papers,” she said, adding that the CAA has sparked fear among people.
“Unlike the rest of India where Muslims feel threatened by the CAA, here in Meghalaya the tribal population feels threatened by all outsiders, be they Hindu or anybody else. They don’t want any non-tribal settlers to come here. They want to say that there is no space for any outsiders here.”
After the passing of the CAA, New Delhi assured Meghalaya that it would be insulated from its impact with the IPL. But the permit measure has yet to be implemented.
“The IPL is a regressive colonial instrument in this modern era. But people have limited understanding of the issue. The government is very scared of the local pressure group,” Mukhim added.
“The CAA has unleashed an ugly situation with more mistrust among people. Meghalaya has always had ethnic conflicts. This has created more fear and tension in society, which could destabilize it. The ruling party in Delhi is to be blamed for this sad state of affairs,” she said.
