KSU accuses Meghalaya of intimidating Laban women opposing Shillong ropeway

The Khasi Students' Union (KSU) has accused the East Khasi Hills district administration and police of trying to intimidate residents of Laban Pyllun in Shillong who are protesting against the Shillong Peak ropeway project, and has asked Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to step in.

The KSU's Laban circle, through president Jason C Laloo and general secretary Shiningstar Chyne, made the allegations in a letter to the chief minister on Friday, Highland Post and Hub News reported.

What the union says happened

According to the letter, members of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) against the ropeway, most of them women, were waiting on October 28 for a decision from the Rangbah Shnong (village headman) when there was an argument between the two sides. The KSU said the exchange was neither hostile nor threatening, but police and a Special Operations Team (SOT) were deployed to the spot immediately.

The union called this a show of strength meant to pressure the JAC into calling off its agitation. It said it feared that elderly women in the movement could be threatened or falsely named in police cases, and warned that it would not tolerate such tactics.

The letter also drew a comparison with the recent public hearing for Shree Cement in East Jaintia Hills, where the KSU alleges opponents of the project were blocked, threatened and assaulted. These are the union's allegations; the district administration's response has not been reported.

Environmental concerns

The KSU said it is not against development or tourism, but that any project must have the consent of local people and must not upset the ecological balance. It questioned government reports that say the ropeway will not affect water sources, saying the JAC and environmental experts disagree.

The union also flagged unconfirmed reports of a new road from the Sericulture Farm to Sawmer for the project, saying it could mean felling trees in a catchment that supplies water to the area. It argued that the administration cannot leave it to local dorbar shnongs and headmen to explain the environmental impact; that, it said, must come from qualified experts through a proper public hearing, which it claims has not been held for this project.

The ropeway row so far

The ropeway, meant to link Shillong with Shillong Peak, has faced resistance at Laban for weeks. Earlier this week the state government told the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council to lift seals placed at the Madan Laban site or face legal action, after the government filed an FIR over the sealing of the site.

The KSU's letter adds a new front to the dispute, shifting attention from the council-government standoff to how police are handling the local protest. There was no immediate response from the chief minister's office or the East Khasi Hills district administration.