SHILLONG, April 14: The war of words between Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) leader Mukul M Sangma over the boundary pact with Assam has intensified with the former asking the latter to accept the “2011 blunder”.
The chief minister on Thursday showed a map of 2011 to claim that villages such as Malang Joypur and Malang Salbari were beyond the areas the then government had marked as part of Meghalaya.
“These villages were never included in Meghalaya in 2011 due to wrong surveys done at that time. The question of bringing those villages back to Meghalaya does not arise now,” he said, advising his predecessor to accept that his government had left out many border villages more than a decade ago.
Stating that the previous government conceded many areas to Assam, the chief minister blamed the AITC leader for it. “We have got most of the villages that were on the list submitted to us,” he said, slamming the government in 2011 for letting go of many villages by not doing its homework properly.
Instead of pointing fingers at his government, the AITC leader should accept that mistakes made during his reign made Assam gain many villages.
Mukul Sangma had earlier slammed the CM for allegedly giving in to a “pre-determined” boundary pact with Assam that cost Meghalaya swathes of land.
“The present government is a victim of manipulation because of its complete ignorance and lack of commitment to protecting the interest of the tribal people,” he said.
State NPP president and Rajya Sabha member, WR Kharlukhi also hit back at the former chief minister, asserting that the AITC should stop the “dog-in-a-manger” policy on the interstate boundary dispute.
“For the sake of our people, we should rise above petty politics. There are people who were in a position to set things right and when others are trying to do, they are opposing it. This will not help our state,” he said.
Vouching for the sincerity of the state government in resolving the long-pending border dispute, Kharlukhi said: “Our people on the border are always at the receiving end due to disputes and innocent lives have been lost as a result. One should not oppose the efforts of the government in solving the issue just for the sake of opposing.”
The border dispute has dragged on for 50 years and those who don’t agree with what the government has done should specify exactly when they can solve it, he added.