A housing colony called Sweepers’ Lane for Mazhabi or Dalit Sikhs who have for generations been municipal workers in Shillong has been under constant surveillance by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The reason? An altercation between a young Sikh woman and some Khasi young men over right of way to a water tap.
In Meghalaya, every incident that involves non-tribal residents and tribals — who feel they are indigenous to the land and have first claim to everything — quickly turns into a communal conflict and an “us” versus “them” tug-of-war. . .
