Meghalaya youths celebrate CAB's demise after CM Conrad Sangma’s strong stand

Guwahati, February 14, 2019:

Conrad K Sangma has been unofficially conferred the title of ‘hero of Northeast’ after being a central figure in the struggle against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. And now that the Bill has suffered a ‘natural death’, the people in his state of Meghalaya have been celebrating the victory of the people’s movement that led to the demise of the Bill.

[caption id="attachment_23625" align="alignnone" width="660"] Jubilant Meghalaya youths took out rallies in Shillong yesterday[/caption]

Workers of the student body Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), which had been fighting against the Bill since the very beginning, took to the streets in triumph after the news had spread. Meanwhile, their Chief Minister, Sangma, was being widely hailed as the crux who had held the Northeastern leaders against the Bill together, and given the title of ‘Northeast hero’.

The KSU took out a victory rallyEffigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as Home Minister Rajnath Singh, were burned by the KSU activists who had taken out the victory rally at Nongppoh (Ri-bhoi district) and Nongstoin (West Khasi Hills district), respectively.

However, the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC), another youth organization against the Bill, was more cautious and termed it only as a “semifinal victory”. NGOs under the banner of the Confederation of Hynñiewtrep Social Organizations (CoHSO) would not celebrate now because “we still have a final match to be fought that is the fight for implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP).”

The fights in the Northeast will continue until the day the indigenous people gain all the rights that they have struggled to secure. But the imminent threat of the Bill has been averted and the people have found proof that the collective voices of the Northeast cannot be stifled by undemocratic means.