Tourism hit as Meghalaya group stops vehicles from Assam

Tourism in Meghalaya took a hit after a pressure group turned away Assam-registered private and commercial vehicles from strategic locations leading to popular tourist spots on July 26.

Members of Meghalaya’s Hynniewtrep National Youth Federation (HYNF), a pressure group, began stopping vehicles and checking the credentials of the passengers after a call to not let transporters from outside the State operate.

The checking of passengers followed a drive by two other such organisations – the Khasi Students’ Union and the Federation of Khasi Jaintia Garo People – against migrant labourers or “illegal immigrants” employed in the State without “work permit”. Over the past few days, the drive saw more than 2,500 labourers exit Meghalaya.

“The incident led to a 30% drop in hotel accommodation bookings on Friday and about 35% today [Saturday], although we feared it would go down by 50%. Thankfully, the checking of vehicles was withdrawn,” Paramvir Sehdave, the Federation of Shillong Hotels president said.

He also said members of the federation and all other stakeholders in the tourism industry apologised to the tourists for the ordeal they had to undergo and assured them that such incidents would not happen again.

Organisations such as the Tour Operators’ Association of Meghalaya, however, foresaw “tough days” ahead as a series of incidents in the State – perceived to be anti-outsiders – coincided with an advisory by the United States for its citizens to avoid travelling to Meghalaya apart from Manipur in the northeast.

“It took us many years to build up the tourism footfall that Meghalaya enjoys today. Friday’s incident has undone much of our hard work,” the association’s president, Banlum Blah said.

Sylvester Nongtnger, the Superintendent of Police of the East Khasi Hills district said 10 members of the HNYF were arrested after a suo motu case was registered against them for unlawful activities. “Police personnel will be posted in strategic areas. We want tourists and visitors to feel safe while travelling in the State,” he said.

Prestone Tynsong, Meghalaya’s Deputy Chief Minister also in charge of Home, condemned the HYNF and asked it not to cross the line. “We will not allow such things to happen again,” he said, admitting that members of the organisation caught the government by surprise by going berserk.

The actions of the pressure groups are related to the demand to implement the Meghalaya Residents’ Safety and Security Act and the British-era inner line permit, which are deemed protective shields for indigenous communities against outsiders.