SHILLONG: Days after the East Jaintia Hills villagers said that they had ‘unanimously’ decided to merge with Bangladesh, police on Friday clarified that the villagers, in a meeting held on the same day, said they only wanted to express the hardships they had undergone in view of the execrable infrastructure there.
A statement from the police said the meeting was held in the office of the EJH Deputy Commissioner, adding that the EJH Superintendent of Police had also attended the meeting.
“In the meeting, the headmen and secretary of the three villages including the spokesperson, Kynjaimon Amse, informed that they only wanted to express the hardships that they have faced in terms of road connectivity, communication and the lack of medical facilities in their villages apart from others. However, their grievance was misconstrued and misrepresented,” the statement said.
It may be mentioned that a statement on Tuesday said that the residents of the four villages along the Indo-Bangla border of Jaintia Hills had decided, in a meeting, to give away their villages to Bangladesh if the government is not willing to start road connectivity there.
The statement had also said that the locals of the four villages will write to the Government of Bangladesh to request the latter for construction of the road since the state and central governments have failed to render any solution to their problems.
The police also said that the intention of the villagers was only to put forward their demands for the revamp of the infrastructure in the villages.
“The representatives also exhorted that their intention was to only seek support for their requirements, and their demand was for improving the infrastructures within their villages,” the statement from police added.
Meanwhile, the EJH Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police have assured the village representatives that they will be visiting the border villages in the coming days “in order to ascertain the facts and circumstances”.