By: Donald V Thabah, General Secretary Khasi Students’ Union
Although the Khasi Students’ Union a.k.a the KSU was formed 44 years ago in 1978, very few show a high degree of commonality in their reasoning to understand the objectives and the issues taken up by this organization since its inception due to lack of proper research and insight into the day-to-day activities of the Union. Quite a lot are not much aware and unacquainted of the students’ movement in the Khasiland region (by Khasi we meant all the Khasis which are Khynriams, Pnars, Wars, Bhois, Marams, Lyngngams, and Mawiangs – we do not accept the divide and rule policy initiated by the Britishers). Let me highlight what little we have learned before coming to the role of the KSU in the present scenario. Before the KSU came into the picture several organizations championed the cause of the Khasi tribe like the Khasi Students’ Association (KSA) formed on the 30th of July 1955 opposing the nomination of non-tribals in the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (UKJHADC), the Hills’ Students’ Union (HSU) formed in 1960 which calls for the setting up of a Law College and a University in Shillong, the Khasi-Jaintia Students’ Union (KJSU) formed in the late 1960s which actively participated in the Hill State Movement, later an organization known as Shillong Students’ Union (SSU) was formed and was instrumental in opposing the shifting of the headquarters of Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) from Shillong to Tura by organizing a protest demonstration in front of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly on the 3rd of July 1974. All these organizations contribute immensely with their heart and soul for the welfare of the Khasi tribal community.
The KSU was formed on the 20th of March 1978 to address the plight of the students’ community i.e., the Khasi students both from Shillong and those coming from far-flung areas to etch their careers in Shillong. The KSU in 1978 took up the issues of admissions, scholarships, and hostel facilities for Khasi students and even organized a blockade and demonstration. There was bitter discrimination against the Khasi students at that time. These issues are still being taken up by the union to date. Later, the wise and insightful KSU leaders decided that the leadership, apart from addressing the academic problems of the Khasis, will have to shoulder upon themselves the responsibilities of other problems plaguing the microscopic Khasi community. Since then, the KSU took upon its mantle to tackle off-campus issues such as influx, unemployment, environmental degradation, corruption, injustice to its indigenous tribal community, and other societal problems. Furthermore, is it wrong for a student to be concerned with such issues? Is it right for a student to just study their prescribed books, get a degree, get a job and just close their eyes, ears and mouth on all the maladies that are wrecking the position of their community? I say a student should open their eyes, open their ears, open their mouths, close their hands and make a fist to strive forward. Also, who is a student? In my opinion, a student is not necessarily one who is affiliated with a government institution. A student is someone who is still pursuing knowledge and acted upon it. Even an octogenarian is still a student as long as he or she is still gathering knowledge and learning.
The KSU has numerous cells to address the persistent problems of the Khasi community, one of them is the Education Cell headed by the Education Secretary of the Central Executive Council. This cell is tasked with handling the academic problems of the Khasi students. Let me highlight only a few points. Remember when the CMJ University fiasco crop out, before that, the KSU had been demanding for a regulatory body to monitor not only the mushrooming private universities but also the exorbitant fees and other monopoly-related activities of educational institutions. The KSU wants a regulatory body similar to those present in Tamil Nadu, Delhi, etc. After CMJ the government setup the Meghalaya Private Universities Regulatory Body. The reason why the KSU was prompted to demand an MBOSE office in Shillong in 2005 was due to many reasons such as leakage of question papers, unavailability of question papers during exam days in certain examination centres to name a few. During the agitation, many KSU activists and their families were harassed, many were jailed and some were tortured by the police. A few weeks back a KSU member from Mawlai died because of the excessive tortures he had to endure during the MBOSE agitation in 2005. Now we have an MBOSE regional office in Lachumiere. The Education Cell of the KSU demands the easing of traffic during examination days, demanded the relief of load-shedding during examination times, regular disbursement of scholarships and its increase. The KSU protested when SSLC prescribed books ill-informed about the tribes of the state. The Education Cell had been demanding the upgradation of the polytechnic institutions present in the state into full-fledged Engineering Colleges. A demand to set up a medical college in the state was also put forth to the government. The KSU had also constantly demanded the setting up of a government college in all district headquarters. Another issue is the setting up of an Agricultural University in Meghalaya, the KSU organized protests, met various MPs in Delhi including the then Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar. During the pandemic, the education cell and other branches of the KSU met with different officials of the government and mobile network service providers to ensure that internet facilities were not denied to the students’ community. Finally, unknown to the editor of The Shillong Times, the KSU had already set up and manages two schools with the help of well-wishers. One school is located in Jatalong, a border village in Ri-Bhoi District which caters to the deprived rural children along the border. Another is an evening school, Soso Tham Memorial Secondary School in Lawsohtun catering to the underprivileged working youths. Regional members of the KSU of these two areas are also members of the managing committee. Mawbyrne Primary School in Pynursla was another school setup by the KSU 25 years ago.
Referring to the recent baseless article by the editor of The Shillong Times, it is high time that one who held such a position should refrain from publishing unauthentic reports and articles that contain propaganda to provoke communal tension and malice by projecting the KSU and the Khasi Community in a bad light. Time and again it appears that the editor of the mentioned newspaper is engaged in mocking and maligning the image of not only the KSU but of the entire Khasi community in many ways. One of such instances is the report on the Them Metor incident in 2018 where attempted molestation by Khasis on Punjabis was reported on her paper and that Khasis from the western region are mostly involved in the incident. A scathing attack was always launched by her paper whenever the KSU or any NGO takes up any issue in the interest of the Khasi community. It seems as if the Shillong Times is a votary and a mouthpiece of the non-indigenous outsiders who are hell-bent on portraying the KSU in particular and the Khasi community in general in a bad light. It would be wise to note that many Khasis are conscious enough to simply rely on the writings of the Shillong Times. Other news media are also there who are presenting facts and are present on ground zero.
With regards to the Shillong Club affairs, it has come to our notice that a complaint is being lodged with the KSU, commonly if anyone seeks the help of the KSU with regards to any injustice being meted out to them; we take it as our bound duty to address such a problem. The reason that we took up the Shillong Club issue is since Shillong Club is not a property of the elitists but a property of the public as a whole. The prospect of the Golf Links, the only free recreational space in the city depends on the administration of the Club. Despite all that was being presented to the union, we took the pain to meet both the parties involved in the conflict to listen to both sides of the story. The suggestion put forth by the KSU is that both parties should come to an amicable solution for the best interest of the public. As per the reports appearing in the Shillong Times that the KSU is being hired, remember the members of the KSU do not have a price tag on their necks otherwise we would not have lasted for 44 years. The KSU is based on commitment, dedication, principle, discipline, righteousness, and integrity. The power of money or even the power of the gun cannot sway or diminish the basic tenets that the KSU stood for since its inception.
