One person has been killed in clashes between Khasi Students Union (KSU) members and non-tribals during a meeting on CAA and inner line permit (ILP) in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills, after which mobile internet services have been suspended in six districts, officials said on Saturday, reports The Hindu.
The clashes between the Khasi Students Union members and non-tribals broke out during the anti-CAA and pro-ILP meeting held in Ichamati area of the district on Friday, they said.
Mobile internet services have been suspended in six districts — East Jaintia Hills, West Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi, West Khasi Hills an South West Khasi hills — of the state from Friday night for 48-hours, officials said.
Curfew was imposed in Shillong and adjoining areas with effect from 10 pm of February 28 to 8 am of February 29, an official order said.
"Curfew has been clamped due to apprehension of serious deterioration of law and order in Shillong and adjoining areas," East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner M. War Nongbri said.
Tension gripped the district after a meeting on the citizenship law and inner-line permit, organised by the KSU in the Shella area, went wrong. Police said differences between the KSU leaders and the non-tribal people of the area led to a clash in which a KSU member sustained critical injuries.
He died at a health centre in Sohra, or Cherrapunjee, later in the evening.
Officials said the curfew and ban on mobile internet services have been imposed to prevent the misuse of social media for fanning communal hatred. "Service providers have been asked to limit the messaging service to five SMSes per day," the State's Home (Police) Department Secretary C.V.D. Diengdoh said.