SHILLONG: Phulbari MLA and NPP leader, SG Esmatur Mominin has asserted that the entire Garo Ihlls region of Meghalaya is under the Sixth Schedule and the question of extending Sixth Schedule to plain belt areas does not arise.
The statement came from Mominin as the Congress MLA from Rajabala, Dr Azad Zaman had opposed the extension of Sixth Schedule areas to plain belt areas of Garo Hills.
Talking to media persons here on Wednesday, Esmatur Mominin said that there was a misconception among the people about Sixth Schedule areas in Garo Hills.
“If Sixth Schedule was not there in plain belts, I would not have been elected as the MDC in GHADC,” he said , adding that the people of the plain belts have the right to vote and elect a leader in District Councils.
According to Mominin, there are 10 mouza’s in Garo Hills and out of these, Mouza’s 6,7, 8 and in B Mahal, the non tribals have their ownership of land.
“In these mouzas and B Mahals, we have the right to inherit land rights from our ancestors,” he said while pointing out that the misconception about extension of Sixth Schedule areas.
Making it clear that there has been no discussion about extending the sixth schedule areas to the plain belts of Garo Hills, he said that the stand of the Meghalaya Government is very clear that entire Meghalaya should be exempted from the purview of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
He also said that in entire Meghalaya, there are only two small areas, European ward and Shillong Cantonment, which does not fall under the ambit of Sixth Schedule
“We the non-tribals of plain belt have the right of ownership of our land and it would exist and there is no such move by the Government to take away our rights,” he said.
He also informed that there was an agreement between the leaders of plain belts and Garo leaders that non-tribals would be given the right to own land in Mouza’s 6,7, 8 and in B Mahal.