SHILLONG: What began as a prayer meeting for two critically injured students turned into a powerful moment of reckoning today at North Eastern Hill University (NEHU). As voices trembled in grief and frustration, the campus community confronted a painful truth: a tragedy that should never have happened did happen—right inside a space where students are meant to feel safe.
The gathering, organised jointly by NEHU Students’ Union, NEHU Non-Teaching Staff Association, and NEHU Teacher’s Association, brought together students, teachers, and staff to pray for Daritngen Pohdukhei and Stefanie Shadap, both battling for their lives after the November 17 accident inside the university premises.
“How did an intoxicated person even enter our campus?”
This was the question raised with deep concern by Prof. Lakhon Kma, whose address captured the anger simmering across NEHU. He pointed to a critical breach in security, noting that the same security agency responsible for guarding NEIGRIHMS is also deployed at NEHU.
Prof. Kma said the alleged lapse occurred because the agency—Ranger Security—has been allowed to operate a staff camp inside the campus. “If this person had not come inside NEHU, such an incident would not have happened,” he said, his voice reflecting both anguish and disbelief.
He argued that housing security personnel within the university is dangerous, especially near Gate-2, one of the busiest entry points. “It is not NEHU’s responsibility to provide accommodation to security staff. This camp must go,” he added firmly.
Blacklisting the Agency: A Community’s Demand
The crowd acknowledged that the intoxicated driver—also a security guard—has been terminated and is now in police custody. But for many, that is not enough.
The prayer meeting transformed into a call for decisive action: blacklist the security agency.
Their reasons were clear—poor vetting, questionable hiring standards, and what they believe is a long-standing mismatch between the duties assigned and the salary paid to guards.
The groups insisted that NEHU must bring in an agency with higher professional standards and a stronger sense of responsibility toward campus safety.
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Gate-1: A Simple Fix Left Unfixed
Another shared frustration surfaced: Gate-1, completed and ready for use, has remained inexplicably closed for the past six months.
Today, the message was unmistakable.
If the Administration continues to delay, the campus community will open the gate themselves. For many, Gate-1 is not just a gate—it is a matter of safety, a way to reduce the heavy traffic burden on the now-notorious Gate-2.
“We are spending on security, but are we truly secure?”
Prof. Kma voiced a fear now deeply felt across the university. At Gate-2, he said, guards barely conduct checks and often sit idle, allowing anyone to enter without scrutiny.
How did an intoxicated individual enter?
Was he even carrying a valid driving license?
Why was no one stopping vehicles from moving inside the campus unchecked?
The questions hung heavy in the air—unanswered, unsettling.
A Campus Shaken to Its Core
As prayers were offered for the two young women still fighting for their lives, one sentiment echoed repeatedly: “Do we still feel safe within the campus?”
The tragedy has not only exposed systemic vulnerabilities—it has pierced the collective sense of security that a university campus should naturally provide. Today, NEHU stood united—not just in prayer, but in grief, fear, and a renewed determination to ensure that what happened on November 17 never happens again.
