SHILLONG, May 17: Some residents of Malangkhona village have threatened to resume their agitation if the Assam-Meghalaya agreement to settle disputes in six sectors along the interstate boundary is not revoked.
These residents on Tuesday met leaders of several organisations and the Sordar of Nonglang to express their displeasure over the pact.
Vice-president of the Malangkhona Area Development Organisation, Enosh G Momin said the Sordar of Nonglang asked them to get more evidence proving that the area was not under Assam.
Stating that Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma signed the border MoU without consulting the locals, Momin said all 11 villages in Malangkhona have been part of Meghalaya.
“But the villages will be part of Assam after the deal. We want to be in Meghalaya, not in Assam where we will face uncountable problems,” he said.
Reaffirming the villagers’ decision to agitate against the deal, he said the chief minister should take responsibility and rectify the “error”.
Leader of the Opposition, Mukul M. Sangma also slammed the chief minister for the boundary deal. He said the CM managed to silence the NPP’s coalition partners on the issue.
“The AITC (All India Trinamool Congress) and the people will continue to oppose the deal although we may not speak on the issue on a daily basis,” he said.
The constituents of the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance have been playing to the gallery and not listening to the people, he added.
“I have often raised this so that people do not get misled and know which political parties have failed them after promising to protect the interest of the jaitbynriew,” Sangma said.
Reminding that the North East Reorganisation Act, 1971, was passed by Parliament for demarcation of interstate borders in the region, he said it could not be implemented because of Meghalaya’s refusal to accept it.
“They want to now solve the issue by muffling the voices of the people,” he said.
Sangma said the Meghalaya CM got trapped by his smarter and shrewder Assam counterpart and his job now is to convince the MLAs and the people that be extracted the best deal.
AHAM petitions President
On this contentious topic of discussion, the Achik Holistic Awakening Movement (AHAM) on Tuesday submitted a petition to President Ram Nath Govind expressing strong concern over the exclusion of Malchapara and Salbari in West Khasi Hills from Meghalaya in the boundary MoU.
AHAM has submitted this petition through Governor Satya Pal Malik.
Talking to reporters, AHAM’s legal adviser, Bernita R Marak, said that the state government should have carried out a referendum to know if the Garo population residing in the two villages wants to be with Meghalaya or Assam
She also said that they will be compelled to move the Supreme Court if the state government fails to pay heed to the sentiments of the Garo population of these villages who want to be a part and parcel of Meghalaya.
According to Marak, the state government did not consult the villagers before signing of the MoU.
“The decision of the state government to exclude the two villages from Meghalaya was against the wishes of the people,” Marak asserted.
She said that the regional committee had not consulted the Nokmas to know if the Garos want to be part of Meghalaya or Assam.
“The decision of the government to go ahead with the signing of the MOU without consulting the villagers is a gross violation of the fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution of India,” Marak said.
