SHILLONG, July 29: Perturbed over the skirmishes along the borders of Meghalaya and Assam and Mizoram and Assam, the student bodies from North East have concomitantly appealed to the state governments from the region to iron out the decades-old interstate border conflicts that continue to plague the North East till date.
The student unions comprising Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF), All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU), Garo Students’ Union (GSU) and All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) — under the umbrella of North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) — have expressed their discontent and maintained that the recent conflicts along the Assam-Mizoram boundary are condemnable and have taken a huge toll on human lives by injuring scores of people and destroying their properties.
Asking the Centre to be a party in the talks to resolve interstate border issues, NESO chairman, Samuel Jyrwa, recalled how scores of lives were lost from Meghalaya in 2010 during the border clashes between Meghalaya and Assam.
Stating that past incidents along the borders of Assam-Meghalaya, Assam-Nagaland and Assam-Arunachal Pradesh also bear witness to the sufferings of the border residents, Jyrwa said, “If a solution arrives where borders will be properly demarcated with a unanimous settlement, then peace will usher in between different Northeastern states and people residing along the borders can live without fear and in harmony among themselves.”
It may be mentioned that the NESO had recently sent a representation to Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, during his visit to Meghalaya on the vexed border issues.
According to the NESO, it will, on its part, continue to encourage people along the interstate borders maintain unity and harmony.
Lambor condemns
‘agression’ by Assam
Chairman of Meghalaya State Planning Board, Lambor Malngiang, has condemned the alleged transgression by Assam at Iongkhuli village of Meghalaya on July 25 and asserted that he will raise the issue with Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, during the second round of border talks scheduled in Guwahati on August 6.
“I have had a thorough meeting with Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on how to create an atmosphere of peace in and around the twelve areas of differences,” Malngiang said during a visit to Iongkhuli on Thursday, adding that the actions of the Assam government was unwarranted, especially when both states have already decided to resolve the long-pending issue.
“There will be no surrender; our land will belong to us. We will discuss Assam’s claims and resolve the problem,” Malngiang said.
He also batted for developmental programmes in the disputed areas to help the residents, particularly helping them to get their lands registered.
He suggested that the government should create a policy to provide free land registration to all the residents of border areas.
Malngiang was accompanied by Jirang MLA Sosthenes Sohtun and Umsning MLA Jason Sawkmie Mawlong besides officials from the Ri Bhoi district administration.
In a related development, Cabinet Minister and Mawhati MLA, Dasakhiatbha Lamare, has said that they expect ‘no act of aggression’ from Assam along the disputed boundaries.
“We agree that there are areas of differences but until we find a proper solution, we expect Assam to maintain peace,” he said on Thursday while condemning the incident.
According to Lamare, although there have been several incidents of transgression in the past, the incident at Iongkhuli village was quite intense.
He highlighted that developmental schemes like setting up of schools and others in the disputed Block-II, which falls under his constituency, have been hampered due to the dispute.
The NPP MLA was hopeful that the ongoing CM-level talks will result in resolution of the dispute.
HSPDP leader and Cabinet Minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar also termed the Iongkhuli incident as unfortunate, adding that it should not have happened.
“Until and unless we are clear on our claims the dispute will continue. We need to have boundary pillars to clearly demarcate the Assam-Meghalaya border,” he suggested.