Constitution of boundary commission necessary: Mukul
SHILLONG: Making clear the intention of the state government to strive for an early settlement of the inter-state boundary dispute with Assam, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said that delay in resolving the matter will result in a loss to the State.
“Assam has allegedly been an encroacher (in this case) and therefore, when you are engaged bilaterally there are reasons to feel it benefits them (Assam) when this issue is prolonged,” the Chief Minister told newsmen here on Monday.
He, however, felt that based on the whole documentation, Meghalaya will stand to gain in case of early solution to the problem.
He also informed that the Government will hold another round of all-party meeting on the issue after the Assembly session.
“We are all aware that there was consensus among all political parties on constitution of the Boundary Commission through the Union Government and to pursue the same with the Centre,” the Chief Minister said.
Referring to past experiences, Sangma said that the boundary commission was necessary since bilateral engagements with Assam were not yielding positive results for whatever reasons.
“After the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly adopted the resolution for constitution of the boundary commission, Assam adopted a resolution countering the resolution adopted by us and communicated to the Union Government that they opposed the constitution of the boundary commission and wanted to proceed through bilateral engagement,” the Chief Minister said.
“It will be imperative for both the States and the Union Government to see that both the States involve all the political parties in respective States to ensure that no political party is able to utilize it (boundary dispute) as an instrument to blame political parties which decide on the settlement of the long pending inter-State boundary dispute,” Sangma said, while insisting on constitution of the boundary commission.
“It is important that both the States involve the political parties and all stakeholders and carry them on board,” he added.