SHILLONG: In a swift defensive response to emerging threats over indigenous land rights, the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) has launched an active investigation into alarming allegations regarding clandestine land acquisitions in the Domiasiat region.
The intervention, led by Land Department Executive Member Powell Sohklet, follows serious public claims made by the leadership of the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU). The student union alleged that highly affluent individuals are currently executing a calculated scheme to purchase vast tracts of land and systematically resettle residents within Domiasiat, a strategy designed to artificially alter the local demographics and ultimately smooth the path for controversial uranium mining operations.
Expressing grave concern over these media reports, Powell announced that the Council will not remain passive and is actively seeking a comprehensive briefing and detailed documentation from the KSU leadership to verify the authenticity of these transactional maneuvers. The issue carries heavy political and environmental weight for the current leadership. As a prominent member of the Voice of the People Party (VPP), Powell recalled that his party enforces an uncompromising, zero-tolerance stance against any form of uranium mining within the Khasi hills.
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He underscored that VPP President Ardent Miller Basawiamoit had been a fierce and vocal opponent of uranium extraction long before the VPP was even conceived. Given the severity of the KSU’s findings, the Land Department intends to formally escalate the matter to the Chief Executive Member (CEM) and the wider Executive Committee (EC) to deliberate on aggressive legal and administrative countermeasures moving forward.
The momentum against mining interests is expected to intensify through direct institutional collaboration.
Addressing growing public demands for a formal legislative resolution against uranium extraction, the EM revealed that the newly elected leaders of the KSU have requested an urgent, high-level meeting with the Executive Committee. The Land Department has already briefed the CEM on this development, and a dedicated session is being scheduled to facilitate detailed strategic discussions between the Council and the student union.
While Powell clarified that the KHADC has not yet received any formal mining proposals, exploration applications, or related land alignment requests, he issued an absolute ideological guarantee to the public. The Council maintains that if any corporate or administrative proposal for uranium extraction ever reaches their desk, it will be rejected outright without hesitation.
The KHADC emphasizes that its opposition to transforming the sacred land of the Hynniewtrep into a mining zone remains absolute, framing this upcoming probe as a vital preemptive strike to ensure that wealthy actors cannot use private capital to bypass the collective will and ecological safety of the indigenous population.
(4FrontMedia news)
