Updated: October 22, 2020 1:16:10 pm
The banners, which read “All Bengalis in Meghalaya are Bangladeshis,” were posted by the Khasi Student Union (KSU) in various places in the state.
An influential student body in Meghalaya put up banners labeling all Bengalis in the state as Bangladeshi, prompting former state governor and BJP leader Tathagata Roy to demand that the organization be designated a “terrorist group.”
The banners, which read “All Bengalis in Meghalaya are Bangladeshis,” were posted by the Khasi Student Union (KSU) in various places in the state.
Police, however, tore down the banners Wednesday night and warned of legal action against those attempting to “incite community discord.”
The team, on the banners, also mourned the death of one of its members in clashes over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Bengali-dominated village of Ichamati along the India-Bangladesh border in February.
The problem arose after some people recently wrote to the NCPCR and Governor Satya Pal Malik alleging the harassment of Bengali settlers by the inhabitants of Ichamati.
Defending his organization’s action, KSU head Lambok Marngar said: “The display of banners in Shillong and other parts of the state was intended to send a message to the rioters who were trying to deceive the country and create hatred, especially in the Ichamati theme. “
“Those who claim to be residents of Shillong but live in Kolkata and elsewhere are making false statements that the Khasis are targeting non-tribal people and have organized protests in Kolkata and Silchar,” Marngar told PTI.
The banners were put up after people recently held a protest in front of the Meghalaya House in Kolkata on the issue and a leader of a Bengali group was planning to visit Ichamati on Wednesday, but the state government denied him permission.
The KSU can please refrain from activities that negate the social fabric and legal action will be taken against anyone who tries to incite community discord in any way, said IGP Assistant GK Iangrai.
Roy, who lives in Kolkata, tweeted: “I say this assuming full responsibility as the former governor of Meghalaya: KSU should be banned just like HNLC. It is an anti-national terrorist organization that threatens Indian citizens, some of whom have been residents of Meghalaya since British times. Like my family on both sides. “
However, the state government, in its report to the National Commission for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (NCPCR), said that no cases of harassment of Ichamati residents, particularly women and children, were found.
Ichamati was the epicenter of anti-CAA clashes in February when an NGO leader was lynched by non-tribal settlers who supported the law.
The main defendant in the case is on the run, but 41 people have been arrested for questioning, a senior police officer said.
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