Behind Shillong Clashes, A Long-Running Tension Over A Piece Of Land

Sanjana, the descendant of a Punjabi family who migrated to Meghalaya over a hundred years ago during the time of the British Raj, has been living in the state capital Shillong for 34 years. The woman who was born in his hilly town says the congested Punjabi Lane in the heart of Shillong, where clashes broke out last week, is her home. People of the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya, however, appear to take the locality as a government-given settlement for migrants who are not tribals. There are allegations that some locals including politicians want the residents of the settlement to be relocated elsewhere anyhow.