Untangling A Complex Thread

The Khasis are demanding that the Sikhs living in Punjabi Line be relocated while the Sikh community is resisting it, will the State Government be able to reach an amicable solution?

- Babul Dkhar

‘A small spark can start a great fire’ said Emmet Fox, a spiritual leader of the past century. While the above quote by Fox was meant to be inspirational but what had started as a small incident on the morning of 31 st May turned out to be a nightmare for the citizens of Shillong.

It all started when a clash broke out between drivers of a State transport bus and residents of Sweeper’s Colony situated at Them Ïew Mawlong in the city. The genesis of the incident can to be traced to an argument when some ladies from the Sweeper’s Colony were fetching water and there was an exchange of words with the driver of the STPS buses parked in that area.

The Police said that the ladies had alleged that the STPS bus drivers had used abusive language. Soon after, a scuffle ensued where it was alleged that three minor boys, who were locals, and sitting inside a STPS bus were injured. Soon after the incident, there were allegations and counter allegations and it was then decided by both parties that they would not go ahead with filing an FIR but settle the dispute outside the police station. A GD entry to this effect was made at Cantonment police beat house.

Later, on the evening of 31 st May, at around 5:30 to 6 pm, a huge crowd numbering more than 500 belonging to the STPS bus association gathered at Them Ïew Mawlong and were proceeding towards Sweeper’s Colony. Soon after, another group of people from the Sweeper’s Colony also came up. But due to timely intervention of the police, they could convince both the groups to actually go back.