SHILLONG:
As the day nears for a final call on six areas of difference between Meghalaya and Assam in the inter-state border, many of the villages, which are not included in the list for settlement, have voiced their desire to be part of the state.
Stating this on Monday, Chairman of the Regional Committee on Boundary Dispute for West Khasi Hills, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar, said, “The regional committees constituted by the two governments were meant to settle those areas of difference agreed by both the states in 2011. Unfortunately, there are many villages which are not included in the list that have now come up and expressed that they want to be part of Meghalaya.”
His statement came in the wake of people from many villages complaining that they are not in the list for settlement after the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two states on January 29 for ending the boundary dispute in 6 of the 12 areas of difference.
The cabinet minister also hoped that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) this time will not change the date fixed on March 27, for finalising the MoU signed by the two states.
“As both the states have agreed and we have spent our time and energy to arrive at this solution and the agreement has been signed by both the chief ministers, I don’t think the central government will have any say on this and it is just formality… I wish March 27 will not be changed,” he said.
Rejecting the allegation of the Opposition that the MoU was signed in a hurried manner, Tongkhar said he did not agree to that. “For the last 50 years, we have been struggling.
Government after government initiated steps, but no government has been able to settle this issue so we feel that as a government under the leadership of our chief minister we feel we should take it forward to have a final settlement on this and we have done the best we can,” he said.
“Yes, there is no perfect solution but I believe we have done a good thing for the people that maximum of the villages we have settled have come to Meghalaya and I hope people staying in the border will be happy,” he added.
He also rubbished the allegation that Assam had brought people to influence the decision of the residents of the villages falling under the 6 areas of difference.
On the demand from the residents of Malchapara, Tongkhar said that they were surprised to see that during the joint inspection between Assam and Meghalaya, the people, who are mostly Garos, had said that they want to be part of Assam.
“In front of everybody, people who gathered there said we want to be part of Assam. Even though I fought for them in the committee when we sat in Guwahati, people had sent a resolution and letter to us stating that they want to be part of Meghalaya but from the Assam side they said that it is backdoor.
When we went there, they clearly stated we want to go to Assam so we are not able to fight for them because of the joint inspection as it has been considered based on the people’s will…so we have considered it according to the findings of the committees during the joint inspections,” he added.