The Assam-Meghalaya border dispute is a 50-year-old problem. On this, the leaders of the Hill State Movement and those succeeding them have to shoulder the blame for not paying due attention to the matter before the state was carved out of Assam. That required a pragmatic, long- term vision for Meghalaya which unfortunately was missing. Meghalaya was governed without any policy until 1988. Assam cannot be blamed for encroaching on what was previously its territories. Whenever and wherever land changes hands between individuals or states both parties are very clear about the boundaries. While having a separate state was an important agenda, what’s equally important is to mark out the boundaries by consulting the maps and areas of influence under the Syiems at the time. Boundaries even between countries remain fluid at the best of times and are often resolved through a process of give and take. Any attempt at rigidity is fraught.
In this aspect the MDA Government must be credited for going the extra mile in trying to settle the boundary issue after a series of consultations with people living in the areas under dispute. This is perhaps the first time that the matter has escalated to the political level. In the past the task of resolving the boundary dispute was left to the bureaucracy. Several rounds of talks were held at the level of the Chief Secretaries of Assam and Meghalaya but with little or no outcomes. The talks were not sustained. They came up intermittently only when the matter would be raised in the Assembly after border skirmishes are reported.
It is commonplace for any government to want to claim credit for its work. For the MDA, solving the long-pending border dispute would be a feather in their cap and a success story to claim for the 2023 elections . However, it appears that the constituents of the MDA are divided on this issue. The UDP General Secretary has raised a point of contention stating that Government should not go against the wishes of the border residents. Border residents usually prefer to have amorphous boundaries that allow them to take advantage of opportunities from both states. Border residents as much as anyone else in the far-flung areas of Meghalaya want better roads so they can market their farm produce more efficiently. Meghalaya should have used soft skills to give the border residents the necessary identity documents but as some residents have themselves stated, it is always more difficult to get their Aadhar cards or EPIC from the Meghalaya side whereas Assam facilitates that process. Be that as it may, the border issue should stop being a political football where every political party will either claim credit if the matter is resolved or will promise to resolve this fifty-year old problem, yet again during the election campaign. Politicians should stop making political capital out of human misery which is what the residents at the border face.
