SHILLONG: One of the five persons, including two women, arrested by Assam police from a border village in West Khasi Hills is a disabled girl in her late teens, Congress legislator Kimfa S Marbaniang told the House on Thursday.
Speaking during zero hour on the last day of the Assembly’s autumn session, Marbaniang said the five villagers, including the 18-year-old disabled girl, were languishing in Boko police station for almost three weeks and urged the government to take steps to ensure their release.
He drew attention to the incident that took place at Malongkona in his constituency, Rambrai-Jyrngam, on September 8 when Home Minister James Sangma inaugurated the Multi Utility Centre in the village.
The MLA said after Sangma left, officials of Assam government had come to the area. “They were taking measurements of the road that leads to Chonggadare Waterfall. But villagers of Hahuapara prevented the officials of the Assam government… as the villagers had already constructed a road under MNREGS, Meghalaya and not PMGSY since the area falls under Nonglang Sirdarship, Meghalaya,” he added.
When Marbaniang visited the area on September 16, he was told that when villagers were trying to prevent the Assam officials from destroying the road, a team of Assam police arrived and beat up several residents and made the arrests.
“The people also informed that the matter did not end there. Assam police continued to hunt down villagers in the area forcing them to flee to the nearby jungle,” Marbaniang said.
The high-handedness of Assam police prompted 575 villagers from 77 families of Hahuapara to flee home and take shelter in a school building and in and around Sildubi and its adjacent villages.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had said 150 villagers left their home and 125 of them took shelter in Christ King School.
Marbaniang said villagers are living in makeshift structures in the cramped school building without proper sanitation.
He recalled that chief ministers of Assam and had a meeting on border issues on July 5, 2010, in Dispur where it was decided that neither of the governments should attempt to encroach on each other’s territory.
“It is unfortunate that the government of Assam has not honoured this decision but continues to encroach into the territory of Meghalaya while the state government has turned a Nelson’s eye to the plight of its own people,” the MLA said and urged the government to ensure that Assam police do not harass the border residents.
