SHILLONG, July 1: The state’s pressure groups have suggested that the Meghalaya and Assam governments should prepare a “white document” if they agree on the proposed give-and-take policy to resolve their long-pending interstate boundary dispute.
CoMSO chairman Robertjune Kharjahrin on Thursday said the people should know the areas that will end up with Meghalaya and those with Assam.
“We would like to see how the 12 areas of differences are resolved. We would also want to know how Block I and Block II are resolved. Even Langpih has got its own peculiar situation,” he said.
Asserting that they are not against the proposed give-and-take policy, he said it is important to know how many of the 12 areas of difference will eventually fall under Meghalaya.
“We need to retain the villages that fall under the various Himas and Raids. No one will accept if Byrnihat goes to Assam. Everyone should be happy with the arrangement,” he said, adding there should be public consultations before any agreement to resolve the dispute.
Kharjahrin said the government should also seek the views of the stakeholders, the three Autonomous Districts Councils (ADCs) and the Raids and Himas sharing boundaries with Assam.
According to him, the Cabinet alone cannot take the decision on such a sensitive issue without taking the various stakeholders into confidence.
Insisting that the exercise should not end up like the land swap deal with Bangladesh in 2011-2012, he said the people along the international border are not happy since much of their agricultural land is now under the control of Bangladesh.
“The opinion of every stakeholder is very crucial,” he said.
The CoMSO chairman also suggested that the government should constitute a special committee to engage in dialogues with all the stakeholders including the ADCs, Himas and Raids.
“We need to create a platform to ensure that the process is not delayed further. We cannot miss this opportunity since the Centre is keen to see that the boundary dispute is resolved before India celebrates its 75th Independence Day,” Kharjahrin said.
Echoing similar views, KSU president Lambokstar Marngar said it was unfortunate that Meghalaya is approaching its 50th year of statehood with an unresolved boundary.
“Political will can resolve this issue,” he said, pointing out that the state government needs to take into account the land documents of the Raids and Himas from before the year Meghalaya attained statehood.
“The Himas and Raids will be able to give a clear picture of our boundaries with Assam. This issue cannot be resolve from the Secretariat level without understanding the ground situation,” the KSU president said.
He echoed Kharjahrin on the acceptability of the proposed give-and-take policy to all stakeholders.
He also said the KSU and other pressure groups had insisted that the discussion on the interstate boundary should be held at the Chief Minister’s level.
“The claims and counter-claims on the 12 areas of difference should be resolved,” Marngar said.
He recalled raising the issue with Rajnath Singh when he was the Union Home Minister. “We had urged the Centre to intervene in the boundary dispute,” he said.
