Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has alleged that Assam has already started the process of demarcating the boundary with Meghalaya through the Survey of India even as the second phase of border talks between the two states are yet to take place.
Alleging that neighbouring Assam has deployed teams on the field and are already started erecting pillars demarcating the boundary with Meghalaya, opposition chief whip, George B. Lyngdoh said, “…to complete the entire process of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement before the North East Reorganisation Act is amended in the Parliament and ratified by the president.”
He also said that the reason why state AITC legislators went to Delhi and protested in front of the parliament was to grab Centre’s attention on two prominent issues – the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that has been signed between Meghalaya and Assam on the border settlement and inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eight Schedule.
“We have taken up these two issues because we have seen that the government of India has been very silent on them. There has been no communication from their side on these two issues,” the AITC legislator said.
Stating that there are no criteria for inclusion of a particular language into the Eight Schedule, Lyngdoh also said that the Centre has shown an indifferent attitude towards the demand.
“So, it is just a matter of political will for the government of India to ensure that these languages are included in the Eight Schedule,” Lyngdoh asserted.
The AITC legislator also said that the protest outside the Parliament by lawmakers of the state was a first-of-its-kind endeavour ever in the history of the state.
“Such as large number of legislators and MPs from a national party spoke for the state and for the interest of its people in front of the Parliament of India to make the voices of Meghalaya heard and to ensure that the government of India recognises our needs,” Lyngdoh said.
The opposition chief whip also said that the party is seeing massive growth in the state. According to him, the kind of response the party has receiving and the pictures of people coming into the AITC’s fold in the Internet, are testimonies that people across the state wants to be a part of “this movement” to bring about a change in the state’s political scenario in 2023.