SHILLONG, July 20: The Chief Ministers of Meghalaya and Assam are set to discuss the protracted interstate boundary issue in Shillong on July 23.
The meeting will be informally but the expectations of a positive outcome are high.
Robertjune Kharjahrin, the chairman of the Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO) said both the state governments and the Centre seem to be serious about resolving the matter.
“We want the issue to be resolved once and for all in the next few years,” he said, adding that a CoMSO delegation would try to meet Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during his visit.
Asking the Conrad K. Sangma government to keep all the stakeholders – Autonomous District Councils and the traditional institutions and NGOs – in the loop, Kharjahrin said it is important for the people of Meghalaya to first settle their internal differences before resolving the boundary issue with Assam.
The CoMSO leader recalled the transfer of hundreds of villages in Khasi and Jaintia Hills to the erstwhile Mikir Hills (now Karbi Anglong) by the Governor of undivided Assam in 1951. The notification was issued without the consent and permission of the Syiem of Hima Khyriem and the Dolloi concerned.
He said the Assam government had agreed to retransfer the areas but the “unacceptable” Assam Reorganisation Act of 1969 has come in the way.
Kharjahrin also said that the British had tagged many Khasi villages with Kamrup in Assam for administrative convenience. “When the British have left India, why should we uphold their notification?” he asked.
Congress MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh said the government should immediately constitute a new border committee in view of the gaps in the report of the Chandrachud Committee. “The new panel should have representatives of all political parties and other stakeholders,” she said.
HSPDP president KP Pangniang said both State governments should hear the voices of the people residing in the disputed areas. He hoped the upcoming meeting would go a long way in resolving the decades-old boundary dispute.
The HSPDP is reaching out to the people of the 12 disputed areas for their views to be submitted to Sangma ahead of the Chief Minister-level talks with Assam.
“The sentiments of the border residents matter. We have visited many places and are trying to reach out to the remaining areas to gauge the situation on the ground,” Pangniang said ahead of his scheduled visit to Langpih.
He said the HSPDP trusts Sangma to take care of the interest of the border residents who want to be in Meghalaya. “The border people want to know where they stand. It is my duty as a leader to ensure that they can live peacefully without the border issues nagging them,” he said.
The HSPDP chief also said Sangma had promised to call a meeting of all the stakeholders before the formal boundary talks take place.
