Langpih Incident

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Langpih Incident
Part of the Assam-Meghalaya Border Conflict
Location Langpih, Meghalaya state, India
Date14 May 2010; 14 years ago
Target Khasi Civilians
Attack type
 Police brutality
Deaths4 killed
Injured12-26 injured
Perpetrators Assam Police
MotiveLand Dispute

The Langpih Incident occurred on 14 May 2010, when clashes broke out between Nepalese Ghorka and Khasi people, leading to shootings by Assam Police. [1]

Contents

Background

For decades prior, Nepali migration into Meghalaya greatly alarmed the native Khasi and Garo peoples, setting off an insurgency and later ethnic cleansing. In November 2008, amidst the larger Assam-Meghalaya Border Conflict, a dispute over the ownership of the Langpih area (known as Rimuliang to the Khasi) intensified when the Meghalayan Government stated their intention to set up a police outpost on the outskirts of that region. [2]

Event

On May 14, 2010, a dispute between the migrant Nepali people and the local Khasi and Garo peoples began after the Nepali people claimed the local "hat" (weekly) market in the area. The Assam Police were called in, firing on the Khasi, killing 4 and injuring 12 to 26. [2]

Victims and Casualties

National media reported that four Khasi villagers died of gunshot wounds as a result of the firing:

Reports of the total number of injured varied between twelve and twenty-six. [3] [4]
The governments of Assam and Meghalaya each reported the death toll as two, with even the death toll becoming an object of political controversy, with authorities of each state moving the corpses around across state borders to manipulate the number of dead. [5]

Aftermath

2012 Hunger Strike

Repercussions of the 2010 incident continued to be felt in 2012, when Pynskhemlang Nongshlong of neighbouring Rambrai village planned to lead a hunger strike in memory of the four slain men. [3] Nongshlong and thirteen fellow activists took to a stage constructed by local people specially for their fast. Two hours after the fast began, the Assistant District Commissioner of Kamrup and 150 police of Assam State arrived at the site. However, Langpih villagers formed a human chain to deny access to police. [6]

After that, According to the directives issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup District in Assam, convoys of villagers belonging to the Rabha tribe and the Nepali community from Assam, escorted by Assam Police, arrived at the village and vandalized the Durbar Hall of Hima Raid Mynsaw. [2] After this, the hall was forcibly seized by Assamese authorities and converted into quarters for Assam Police personnel, who still occupy the premises. After this, another conflict erupted when the locals tried to create a new community hall in the area. Mr. Swingly Samakha, the chief of Hima Raid Mynsaw, emphasized that there was no need to inform the Assam Government about the hall's construction as it was funded entirely by the villagers' generosity, without any government involvement. [2]

The incident was brought to the attention of the Union Minister by the then Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma, who expressed concern over the demolition of the Durbar hall by the Kamrup Administration. [2]

By the eighth day of the fast, eight of the fasters had been retired to Shillong Civil Hospital due to ill health; Nongshlong and five others remained, but were clearly suffering from the effects of dehydration. [7] As the fast neared its second week, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma appealed to Delhi for assistance. [8]

Nongshlong declared an end to the fast on 13 July, giving the government a deadline of two months to fulfill a list of demands which the villagers would later announce. [9] [10] However, on 16 July Nongshlong and four women resumed their fast at Nongstoin. [11] Around the same time, the Meghalaya People’s Human Rights Council sent a delegation to the 20th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. MPHRC General Secretary Dino Dympep met with UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya regarding the 2010 killings, following which Anaya sent a communique to the Government of India. However, by the following month the GOI had failed to respond. [12]

A monument was constructed in memory of the dead villagers. [3]

In March 2020, the conflict escalated after the Assam Police tried to set up a border outpost in Umwali village in Langpih, which caused tension amongst the local Khasi people. Following this, a BJP MLA from Meghalaya sought Union Home Minister Amit Shah's help in October 2020 to resolve the border dispute. [13] As of 2023, negotiations on the issue were ongoing. [14]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meghalaya</span> State in northeastern India

Meghalaya is a state in northeast India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills and (b) the Garo Hills. The estimated population of Meghalaya in 2014 was 3,211,474. Meghalaya covers an area of approximately 22,429 square kilometres, with a length-to-breadth ratio of about 3:1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shillong</span> City and state capital of Meghalaya, India

Shillong is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a population of 143,229 according to the 2011 census. It is said that the rolling hills around the town reminded the British of Scotland. Hence, they would also refer to it as the "Scotland of the East".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khasi people</span> Ethnic group in North-East India

The Khasi people are an ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh. Khasi people form the majority of the population of the eastern part of Meghalaya, that is Khasi Hills, constituting 78.3% of the region's population, and is the state's largest community, with around 48% of the population of Meghalaya. They are among the few Austroasiatic-speaking peoples in South Asia. The Khasi tribe holds the distinction of being one of the few remaining tribes that have a matrilineal society. Under the Constitution of India, the Khasis have been granted the status of Scheduled Tribe.

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References

  1. ↑ "Title of the Article". Kolkata Observer. 13 July 2011. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "LANGPIH- THE CRY OF THE RIMULIANG" (PDF). Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research.
  3. 1 2 3 "Cops object to stage at Langpih", The Telegraph of India, Calcutta, India, 29 June 2012, archived from the original on 9 July 2012, retrieved 11 August 2012
  4. ↑ "Centre to probe firing across Assam-Meghalaya border", OneIndia.in, 19 May 2010, retrieved 10 August 2010
  5. ↑ Roy, Dipankar; Sarma, Pankaj (16 May 2010), "Lampi: a victim of one-upmanship; Progress eludes 'apple of discord'", The Telegraph, Calcutta, India, archived from the original on 19 May 2010, retrieved 18 August 2010
  6. ↑ "Assam Police Fails to Disrupt Langpih Fast", Northeast Today, 2 July 2012, archived from the original on 18 February 2013, retrieved 11 August 2012
  7. ↑ "Fast over Langpih enters Day Eight; No solution to imbroglio in sight", The Telegraph of India, Calcutta, India, 9 July 2012, archived from the original on 4 March 2016, retrieved 11 August 2012
  8. ↑ "Sangma petitions Delhi on Langpih". The Telegraph of India. Calcutta, India. 11 July 2012. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "Hunger strike at Langpih to be withdrawn tomorrow", Business Standard, 13 July 2012, retrieved 11 August 2012
  10. ↑ "Langpih protesters end fast unto death", The Shillong Times, 13 July 2012, retrieved 11 August 2012
  11. ↑ "Youth resumes fast unto death at hospital". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "India yet to submit th elong pending Assam-Meghalaya Border dispute to the UN", TNT Magazine, 1 August 2012, retrieved 11 August 2012
  13. ↑ "Assam-Meghalaya Border Dispute". Land Conflict Watch. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  14. ↑ "Situation Tense Along Assam-Meghalaya Border After Fresh Clashes Erupt". The Wire. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
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