SHILLONG:
Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as an autonomous state in 1970 and became a full-fledged state in 1972. Assam shares an 884.9 km long border with Meghalaya. The border dispute stems from the Meghalaya government’s refusal to accept the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act of 1969.
There are 12 points of dispute along the Meghalaya–Assam border covering an area of 2,765.14 sq. km. Like in the case of Arunachal Pradesh, in April 1951, on the recommendations of the Bordoloi Committee, Blocks I and II of Jaintia Hills were transferred to the Mikir Hill (Karbi Anglong) District of Assam and areas in Garo Hills to Goalpara District of Assam. The contiguous areas in Ri Bhoi District were also transferred to the Kamrup District of Assam.
The 1969 Reorganisation Act reiterates these transfers and accordingly defines the boundary of Meghalaya. Meghalaya claims that these areas originally belong to the Khasi–Jaintia Hills and that the inhabitants belong to the Khasi Pnar tribe, therefore, these areas should belong to Meghalaya. It also claims that some of these territories were also lost to the British by the Khasi chieftains.
The Assam government on the other hand asserts that Meghalaya archives does not have the documents to prove that these areas historically belonged to Meghalaya. And that it will adhere to the maps which were created in 1979–80.
Efforts at Dispute Resolution
Initial attempts at resolving the border dispute were mainly through negotiations between the two governments. In May 1983, both the governments constituted a joint official committee to resolve the issue. The committee submitted its report in November 1983 in which it suggested that the dispute should be settled by redelineation of the border by the Survey of India with the cooperation of both the states. However, no action was taken to implement the recommendations. Meanwhile, more areas along the border began to be disputed. To resolve the disputes, Assam and Meghalaya agreed to constitute an independent committee.
Accordingly, a committee headed by Justice YV Chandrachud was constituted in 1985. The committee submitted its report in 1987 and reportedly upheld the claims of Assam. The Meghalaya government however rejected the committee’s report. As the border disputes increased and became more violent, both the governments agreed in January 1991 to jointly demarcate the border with the help of Survey of India. By the end of 1991, around 100 km of the border was demarcated but later Meghalaya government refused to cooperate arguing that the manner in which the border was demarcated was unconstitutional.
About 20 years later in 2011, the Meghalaya assembly passed a resolution asking the Union government to intervene and constitute a boundary commission. In response, the Assam assembly passed a resolution opposing the move of the Meghalaya government. However, at the behest of the Union government, both the governments appointed nodal officers to discuss the border dispute. They meet periodically to minimise the points of difference and maintain the status quo along the border.
In 2019, the Meghalaya government filed a petition in the Supreme Court urging it to direct the Union government to settle the border dispute. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition and ordered the Meghalaya government to approach the Centre directly.
In 2022, an agreement termed historic was signed between Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma along with his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on March 29. This signifies as the first phase of the border talks.
Later, in 2022 itself, the second phase of talks was initiated by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma amid protests from villagers who felt let down by the boundary deal. Most of these villagers are tribal people who would end up in Assam when the boundary is redrawn formally.
The 9th chief ministers’ level meeting on Assam Meghalaya border held in Janata Bhawan, decided to form three Regional Level Committees to solve disputes in six remaining border areas namely Khanduli and Psiar, Block 1 and Block 2, Borduar, Langpih, Nongwah, Mawtamur and Desh Doomreah between the two states.
The committees will be headed by cabinet ministers of each state along with members from Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) as three disputes’ sites out of six falls within the jurisdiction of KAAC.
Within 15 days both the governments will notify regional committees as the members of the committees after the extensive visit and talking to the local people following the spirit of friendship will iron out differences to find out mutually agreeable solutions amicably.
“Under the guidance and leadership of Prime Minister and Union home minister, both Assam and Meghalaya government have initiated a discussion in the process of trying to resolve the border dispute between the two states which has been there for the last 50 years,” Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad K Sangma stated.