SHILLONG, April 18: Despite the growing opposition to the recent border pact with Assam in six disputed sectors, the Meghalaya government is keen on going ahead with the second phase of discussions to resolve the dispute in the remaining six sectors.
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Monday said the government wants to start phase two of the discussions with the traditional heads from Block I and II and Khanduli having sought the joint inspection with Assam to be clear about the boundary.
The decision to start the second phase would be taken by the chief ministers of the two states, he added.
Tynsong said there is no question of reviewing the decision (on the six “less complicated” disputed areas) the two states took together. “There will always be minor issues but both the states have already come to a solution,” he added.
He said Meghalaya and Assam have almost shared the 26 sq km of land in the six disputed areas equally.
Asked about the KHADC’s statement that private land cannot be handed over to Assam, Tynsong said the government will never interfere with the ownership of land. “If the land happens to be in Meghalaya, the ownership will be with the people of Meghalaya. Same is the case with Assam,” he pointed out.
The deputy CM said there would be no end to the problem if people keep going back to history. “The Himas had land till river Brahmaputra and even Dispur was a part of the Khasi state,” he said.
He also said former Chief Minister Mukul M Sangma did not discuss with the cabinet before submitting Meghalaya’s claims to Assam in 2011.
“He prepared the claim and gave them to Assam without sharing the details on the areas with us,” Tynsong said, trashing the allegation that the state government succumbed to Assam’s pressure in accepting the boundary deal.
“Mukul Sangma should not play a political game on this serious issue. He could not do anything about a graveyard in Maikhuli when he was in a position to,” he said.