Garo Hills under Sixth Schedule: Phulbari MLA

SHILLONG:  Phulbari MLA and  NPP leader, SG Esmatur Mominin has asserted that the entire Garo Hills region is under the Sixth Schedule and the question of extending it to plain belt areas does not arise.
The statement came from Mominin as Congress MLA from Rajabala, Azad Zaman had opposed the extension of Sixth Schedule in these areas.
Talking to media persons here on Thursday,  Mominin said that there is some misconception among the people about Sixth Schedule.
“ If it was not there in plain belts, I would not have been elected as an MDC in GHADC,” he said , adding that the people of the area have the right to vote and elect a leader in district councils.
According to Mominin, there are 10 mouzas in Garo Hills and out of these,  mouzas 6,7, 8  and in B Mahal, non-tribals have 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 to the plain belt is totally wrong.
Making it clear that there has been no discussion  about extending it to the plain belt of Garo Hills, he said that the stand of the Meghalaya government is very clear that the entire state should be exempted from the purview of Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
He also said that in the entire state, there are only two small areas —European ward and Shillong Cantonment — which do not fall under the ambit of Sixth Schedule
“ We the non-tribals of the plain belt areas have the right of ownership of our land 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 the plain belt and Garo leaders that non-tribals would be given the right to own land in mouzas 6,7, 8  and in B Mahal.