From Our Correspondent
JOWAI: The People’s Movement against the delay in solving the long-pending inter-state boundary dispute between Meghalaya and Assam, held at Khanduli village on Friday, was attended by thousands of local residents of the area including village elders, headmen and the Synjuk ki 30 Shnong.
Leaders of the People’s Movement including Nongkrem MLA Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, former KSU general secretary Hamlet Dohling, FKJGP general secretary Joe Marwein, Rev. O Langstieh, secretary Synjuk ki Rangbah Shnong Pangam Raliang, P Sunga, and leaders of Jaintia Hills based NGOs attended the public meeting.
Drawing the attention of the people towards the ‘Status Quo’ agreed upon by both the state governments, Basaiawmoit said, “It has been experienced that only Meghalaya is maintaining the ‘so call Status Quo’ whereas Assam is open violating the Status Quo by encroaching into Meghalaya and harassing the people in the border areas.
Stating that even after 40 years, respective state governments have failed to solve the long-pending inter-state boundary dispute, the Nongkrem legislator said, “It is only through the People’s Movement that we will be able to pressurise the government to solve the problem.”
Earlier, secretary of Synjuk ki 30 Shnong, P Talang, informed that Assam had, since 1970, encroached into Khanduli village and captured their cultivated land.
Providing details, talang said in 1970 the Assam Battalion had set up its camp at Khang- Khadwi- the original and traditional boundary between Jaintia Hills and Karbi-Anglong districts. Later in 1973, the Assam Battalion shifted its camp beyond Khang-Khadwi into Meghalaya territory and in 1986 the camp was further shifted to Khanduli village.
“We had registered our protests then but our politicians told us that since the camp was being set up on a temporary basis we should not be worried.”