SHILLONG: THS Bonney, who contested the Lok Sabha polls, has urged the state government to ensure immediate release of Michael Warjri from the custody of Assam police and proper medical care.
In a letter to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday, Bonney, a retired IFS officer, said 76-year-old Warjri is “a very brave man” who is “defending the boundary of Meghalaya alone and with conviction”.
“I feel sad that ultimately in his old age, he has been attacked and arrested and that no political leader from Meghalaya seems to bother about his well-being,” said Bonney, adding that he met Warjri at Barakhowa while collecting facts about the border dispute in December 2018.
Bonney attached copies of documents which Warjri had given to him last year. “I believe the cause of the attack was to get the original documents from him,” he wrote.
He urged the government to “utilise these documents and treat the arrest of Michael as a wakeup call that something has to be done immediately on the boundary dispute with Assam”.
Boundary commission
Chairman of the Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya John F Kharshiing also wrote to the chief minister on Thursday requesting him to constitute a Meghalaya State Commission on inter-state boundary.
In his memorandum, Kharshiing said the commission can be mandated to look into the challenges which keep arising due to the status quo and difficulty in resolving the dispute since Independence.
“From time to time our people are compelled to face conflict situation and tension along border areas, especially areas under dispute with Assam and Bangladesh,” he said.
He added that the delay in defining the true jurisdiction of the “Khasi states” as described in the First Schedule based on the Instrument of Accession and Annexed Agreement are leading to such human rights violation.
“We urge the government to take strong action against those criminals who have taken law in their hands and to provide immediate relief to those affected and take urgent steps for the release of Michael Warjri, who we now learn has been wrongly put in jail by Assam police,” Kharshiing said.
