HNYF threatens to stop Shillong Literary Festival at Ward's Lake

The Hynniewtrep National Youth Front (HNYF) has warned that it may stop the sixth Shillong Literary Festival from going ahead at Ward's Lake. The three-day festival is due to open on November 12.

HNYF's East Khasi Hills unit raised the threat on Sunday, November 8, The Shillong Times reported. Its president, Stevenson Raymond Khyriem, said the state government had pushed ahead with the venue despite repeated appeals to move the event elsewhere. The Tourism department has already started putting up temporary structures inside the lake grounds.

Why the group objects

Khyriem said the HNYF wrote to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on October 19 to object to the venue but never got a reply. He accused the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government of brushing aside public opinion.

The group says it is not against literature or cultural events. Its objection is to the site itself. The government is planning a Rs 25-crore programme to restore and beautify Ward's Lake. The HNYF argues that it makes little sense to spend that money while allowing temporary structures, big crowds and festival waste at the same spot. It called the lake one of the few green public spaces left in Shillong.

Khyriem also warned that if the government stayed silent and the group moved to stop the festival, the government would have to answer for any trouble that followed.

Appeal to the Tourism Minister

The HNYF called on Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh, who represents West Shillong, to step in. It reminded him of his own past in pressure-group politics and urged him to back public concerns rather than defend the government's choice.

The group wants the government to explain why it did not reply, respond to the memorandum, and move the festival to another venue before the opening day.

The HNYF is not the first to object. Some citizens and young people had already questioned the choice of venue. They said events that need pandals and temporary flooring belong in permanent venues, not in a heritage lake that is about to be restored.

About the festival

The Shillong Literary Festival returns for its sixth edition from November 12 to 14, with Ward's Lake announced as the venue in September. Organisers have announced Booker Prize winners Kiran Desai and Damon Galgut among the guests, Meghalaya Monitor reported in October. Desai won the 2006 Booker for The Inheritance of Loss. Galgut won in 2021 for The Promise.

The run-up to the festival included workshops at the State Convention Centre and First Bloom, a contest for new writers from the Northeast with a prize pool of Rs 75,000.

What happens next

The government has not yet responded publicly to the HNYF's latest warning. Ward's Lake, in the heart of Shillong, is one of the city's best-known landmarks and a popular spot for walkers and tourists. NEInsider will update this story if the government or the organisers respond, or if the venue changes.