SHILLONG, April 7: Lok Sabha member and MPCC president, Vincent H. Pala on Thursday advised the disgruntled Hima and Syiem to move the Supreme Court on the Assam-Meghalaya boundary pact and assured them of support from Congress in their fight.
“I think the Syiem and Hima who have the papers to support their claim should move court. We are ready to assist them,” said Pala.
His statement followed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma ruling out any possibility of revisiting the areas where disgruntlement has surfaced after the memorandum of understanding to resolve six out of the 12 disputed areas was signed.
Pala said the attempt to resolve the age-old issue is for the benefit of one or two individuals only. “If they wanted the benefit for all, they should have discussed with all the Syiems and headmen of the border areas before signing the MoU,” he said.
He said some things were not clear but the state government still went ahead with the MoU hurriedly.
“The land belongs to the tribal people and once they go to Assam, they will lose their tribal status. People have every right to protest and we are living in a democracy. You cannot just say this is Assam and this is Meghalaya. Definitely, people will go to the Supreme Court,” Pala said.
Lashing out at the state government, he said: “They do not bother about the public, whether they protest or not. This government does what suits it.”
The demand from border villagers to review and revoke the agreement has been growing louder. The coalition partners of the National People’s Party too have voiced their concern and demanded a review of the pact.
The chief ministers of both the states have made it clear that revisiting the pact will not be an option.